CASSELBERRY, FL. A state inspector who walked into Cafe De Wan on FL-436 on September 11 found toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, dishes not cooked to required minimum temperatures, and food described as being in poor condition or adulterated — six high-severity violations in a single visit. The cafe was not closed.
The inspection also turned up five intermediate violations, bringing the total to eleven citations from a single visit. State records show the facility has accumulated 44 total violations across five inspections on record.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical storage citation is among the most acute hazards documented. Toxic cleaning agents kept near or alongside food can contaminate dishes through spills, mislabeling, or physical contact, with effects ranging from gastrointestinal injury to acute poisoning.
The food temperature violation is equally direct. State code requires poultry to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit to kill Salmonella. When that threshold is not met, the pathogen survives and reaches the customer's plate.
The inspector also cited food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. That citation covers spoiled product, contaminated ingredients, and items that cannot be reliably identified, any of which can cause foodborne illness before a customer would have any way of knowing something was wrong.
No consumer advisory was posted for raw or undercooked menu items. That notice is specifically required so that elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and people with compromised immune systems can make an informed choice before ordering.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and improper handwashing technique is a direct transmission pathway for Norovirus, which sickens roughly 20 million Americans each year. A written health policy tells workers when they are too sick to handle food. Without one, there is no formal barrier between a symptomatic employee and every plate that leaves the kitchen. Improper handwashing technique compounds that risk: even when a worker goes through the motion of washing, pathogens remain on the hands if the technique is wrong.
The sanitizer and utensil citations found at Cafe De Wan on September 11 work together in the same direction. Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, biofilms that resist standard cleaning once established. If the sanitizing solution is also at the wrong concentration, those surfaces are never effectively treated between uses.
Single-use items being reused and wiping cloths used improperly are two of the most common contamination vehicles in a kitchen. A cloth that picks up raw protein residue and then wipes a prep surface has effectively transferred that contamination to every item cut or plated there afterward.
Equipment in poor repair rounds out the intermediate citations. Cracked, chipped, or corroded surfaces cannot be sanitized the way intact surfaces can. Bacteria accumulate in those gaps and persist regardless of how often the surface is wiped down.
The Longer Record
Five inspections on record at Cafe De Wan tell a complicated story. The June 25 visit this year turned up zero high-severity and zero intermediate violations, a clean result. But that inspection came nine days after a June 16 visit that found five high-severity and four intermediate violations, suggesting the clean result may have reflected corrections made under scrutiny rather than a durable change in operations.
The pattern before that is consistent. The March 5 inspection found six high-severity and three intermediate violations, the same high-severity count as September 11. The December 2025 inspection found one high-severity and two intermediate violations.
Across five inspections, the facility has accumulated 44 total violations on record. It has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Six high-severity violations, including improperly stored toxic chemicals and food not cooked to required temperatures, did not trigger that outcome at Cafe De Wan on September 11.
The cafe was open when the inspector left.
