ORLANDO, FL. Inspectors visiting China Tea at 9924 Universal Blvd on May 14 found that the kitchen was not following parasite destruction procedures for fish, meaning customers could have eaten fish containing live Anisakis worms or tapeworm larvae, and the restaurant was allowed to stay open.
That was one of eight high-severity violations cited that day. The facility accumulated more high-severity findings in this single inspection than in any visit recorded in the past three years.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction citation is among the most direct food safety failures inspectors can document. Fish served raw or lightly cooked, including many items common in Asian cuisine, must be frozen to specific temperatures for specific durations before service to kill parasites. When that process is skipped or done incorrectly, the fish arrives at the table with the risk intact.
Food not cooked to minimum required temperatures was a separate, additional finding. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The two violations together, undercooking and failed parasite procedures, describe a kitchen where multiple foods reached customers without the heat treatments that make them safe.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for improper use of time as a public health control. When a kitchen opts to use time rather than temperature to manage food safety, it must follow strict protocols tracking how long food sits in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit. The citation means those protocols were not being followed correctly.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and similar equipment that carry bacteria from one food to another without adequate cleaning between uses are a primary vehicle for cross-contamination in commercial kitchens.
The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, meaning customers with compromised immune systems, elderly diners, pregnant women, and children had no warning on the menu that certain items carry elevated risk.
Shell stock identification records were inadequate. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, require documentation tracing them to their harvest source. Without those records, there is no way to trace an illness back to a specific harvest bed if customers get sick.
Two intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: improper use of wiping cloths and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of failed parasite destruction and undercooking at a single facility is not routine. Parasite destruction is a non-negotiable step for facilities serving certain fish, because parasites like Anisakis are not killed by marinades, light searing, or brief cooking. They require sustained freezing at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit for seven days, or flash freezing at minus 31 degrees. When that step is missing, the fish on the plate is the same fish that came off the boat.
The lack of an employee health policy compounds every other violation on the list. Without a written policy requiring sick workers to report symptoms and stay out of the kitchen, a single employee with Norovirus can expose every customer served during a shift. Norovirus is responsible for nearly half of all foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States.
Improper handwashing technique matters even when employees do wash their hands. Studies have shown that incorrect technique, insufficient time, skipping between-finger contact, or not washing long enough, leaves enough pathogen load on hands to transfer to food. At China Tea, both the policy and the technique were flagged as deficient on the same day.
The shell stock traceability failure is particularly significant because shellfish are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from their surrounding water. If a customer becomes ill after eating oysters or clams at this location, the absence of harvest records makes it nearly impossible to identify the source or pull contaminated product from other distribution points.
The Longer Record
The May 14 inspection was the 27th on record for China Tea, and the facility has accumulated 238 total violations across that history. The pattern across recent years is consistent: high-severity violations appear in nearly every inspection cycle.
In July 2023, inspectors cited the location for seven high-severity violations and two intermediate ones, a tally that matches this month's findings almost exactly. In March 2025, five high-severity violations were recorded. In February 2024, another five. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The May 2025 inspection was the one clean visit in recent memory, with zero high or intermediate violations recorded. That result makes the May 2026 findings harder to explain as a rough patch. A facility that can pass a full inspection one year and return eight high-severity violations the next is not a kitchen that simply had a bad day.
Open for Business
Florida law permits inspectors to close a restaurant on the spot when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Eight high-severity violations, including failed parasite procedures, undercooked food, and no mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen, did not meet that threshold at China Tea on May 14.
The restaurant was not closed. It continued to serve customers.