FT. LAUDERDALE, FL. State inspectors walked into Big Mike's Healthy on SE 17th Street on October 2 and left with a citation for food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means inspectors could not confirm whether the ingredients served to customers had ever passed a federal safety check.
That was one of eight high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant stayed open.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction citation is one of the more specific dangers in the report. When fish, pork, or wild game is served without proper freezing or cooking protocols, parasites including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork can survive and infect customers. The violation suggests those protocols were not being followed at the time of the inspection.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for failing to cook food to required minimum temperatures, a separate but related problem. Salmonella in poultry requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be killed. Below that threshold, the bacteria survives and reaches the customer's plate.
The shellfish citation adds a third layer. Without proper shell stock tags and records, there is no way to trace where oysters, clams, or mussels came from if a customer gets sick. That traceability gap is exactly why the records are required.
Inspectors also found that food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and equipment that touches food directly, had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. Those surfaces are a primary transfer point for bacteria moving from raw ingredients to finished dishes.
Three intermediate violations rounded out the report: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, wiping cloths used improperly, and inadequate toilet facilities. Improperly cleaned utensils can develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, films that resist standard sanitizing once established. Inadequate restroom facilities compound the handwashing problem already cited as a high-severity violation.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of violations documented at Big Mike's Healthy on October 2 is not a collection of paperwork problems. It is a map of multiple points where bacteria, parasites, and pathogens could reach a customer's food.
The unapproved food source violation is particularly difficult to dismiss. Food that bypasses USDA and FDA inspection has no verified safety history. If a customer becomes ill after eating there, investigators may have no supply chain to trace. The citation does not identify which specific ingredient came from an unapproved source, but the violation is treated as high-severity precisely because the answer to that question is unknown.
The consumer advisory violation matters most for the restaurant's most vulnerable customers. Elderly diners, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems face acute risk from raw or undercooked foods. Without a posted advisory, those customers have no way to make an informed choice. At a restaurant that brands itself around health, that gap is particularly pointed.
The handwashing technique violation deserves its own attention. It is not a citation for skipping handwashing entirely. It means employees were washing their hands but doing so incorrectly, leaving pathogens behind even after the attempt. Combined with improperly used wiping cloths, which can spread contamination from one surface to another, the kitchen had two active cross-contamination pathways operating simultaneously.
The Longer Record
The October 2 inspection is not an outlier in the restaurant's history. State records show 29 inspections on file for Big Mike's Healthy, with 139 total violations accumulated across that record.
The pattern in the most recent inspections is consistent. In February 2026, inspectors cited four high-severity and three intermediate violations. In May 2026, the count rose to five high-severity and three intermediate violations. The October 2 inspection, with eight high-severity citations, represents the highest single-visit total in the recent record.
A follow-up inspection one week later, on October 9, found one high-severity and one intermediate violation remaining. That reduction suggests some corrections were made quickly. It does not change what was present on October 2.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history. Not after the February violations. Not after the May violations. Not after eight high-severity citations on October 2.
Open for Business
State inspectors documented food of unknown origin, parasites not destroyed, food not cooked to safe temperatures, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and customers given no warning about raw or undercooked items.
Big Mike's Healthy on SE 17th Street was not closed that day. It was not closed the day after. A follow-up inspection a week later confirmed at least one high-severity violation was still present.
The doors stayed open.
