BOYNTON BEACH, FL. State inspectors visiting DeLuca's Italian Kitchen & Bar at 8260 S Jog Rd on June 19 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, no written employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly, among nine separate high-severity violations. The restaurant was not closed.
That count ties the highest single-day high-severity tally in the facility's recorded inspection history, matching a visit on February 5, 2024, which also produced nine high-severity violations.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious in the June 19 report. Inspectors cited food from unapproved or unknown sources, meaning at least some ingredients on the line that day arrived outside the regulated supply chain, without USDA or FDA inspection documentation.
The shellfish traceability violation compounds that concern. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are high-risk foods often consumed raw or lightly cooked. Without proper identification tags and receiving records, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch to its origin if a customer gets sick.
Inspectors also documented that the person in charge was not present or not performing required oversight duties. That finding sat alongside a report that at least one employee was not reporting illness symptoms, and that the facility had no written employee health policy at all.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. That violation, in a working kitchen, means a chemical contamination of food or surfaces is a matter of proximity and timing rather than probability.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and an employee not reporting illness symptoms is not a paperwork problem. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently when infected food workers continue preparing food without restriction. A written health policy is the mechanism that requires workers to disclose symptoms before they reach the line. Without one, the kitchen has no formal barrier between a sick employee and a customer's plate.
The food-from-unapproved-sources violation matters for a specific reason: traceability. When a customer becomes ill and investigators need to identify the contaminated ingredient, the regulatory supply chain provides the documentation to do it. Food from unknown sources severs that chain entirely. At DeLuca's on June 19, inspectors found both an unapproved sourcing violation and inadequate shellfish records, meaning two separate categories of traceability had broken down on the same day.
Improperly cleaned multi-use utensils, flagged as an intermediate violation, carry their own sustained risk. Bacterial biofilms form on inadequately cleaned surfaces within 24 hours and become progressively harder to remove. Wiping cloths used improperly can transfer pathogens from one surface to another across an entire kitchen shift.
The improper handwashing technique violation is not the same as no handwashing. It means employees were washing their hands, but doing so in a way that leaves pathogens behind. Studies consistently show that technique failures can leave contamination levels nearly as high as no washing at all.
The Longer Record
The June 19 inspection is not an outlier. DeLuca's has 33 inspections on record, with 208 total violations accumulated across that history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern of high-severity violations at DeLuca's is consistent and recurring. On February 10, 2026, inspectors found seven high-severity violations. A follow-up visit the next day, February 11, still produced two high-severity violations. The facility was inspected again on February 19 and again on April 13 and April 14 of 2026, with high-severity violations appearing at every visit.
February 5, 2024, produced nine high-severity violations, the same count as June 19, 2026. A follow-up the next day still found two high-severity violations.
Across the six most recent calendar-year inspection cycles in the record, DeLuca's has not had a single inspection that came back entirely clean of high-severity findings. The violations are not concentrated in one category. They span food sourcing, employee illness protocols, handwashing, chemical storage, and managerial oversight.
Still Open
Florida law gives inspectors the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Nine high-severity violations on a single inspection, including food from unapproved sources, no employee illness policy, an employee not reporting symptoms, and improperly stored toxic chemicals, did not meet that threshold at DeLuca's on June 19.
The restaurant remained open.