TIERRA VERDE, FL. An employee at DeRusso's Pizzeria on Pinellas Bayway South was not reporting illness symptoms to management during a state inspection on August 5, a violation that health officials classify as the single leading cause of multi-victim foodborne outbreaks. The restaurant was not closed.
That violation was one of eight high-severity citations inspectors recorded during the visit, a count that also included food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and shellfish with no traceability records. Four intermediate violations were documented on top of those.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking citation is among the most direct threats to a customer's health in the inspection record. When poultry is not brought to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, Salmonella survives in the meat and reaches the plate. At a pizzeria, that risk touches any chicken topping, any stuffed slice, any baked dish that leaves the oven before it reaches safe internal temperature.
Two separate citations addressed toxic chemicals. One covered improper storage or labeling; the second covered improper identification, storage, or use. Together they describe a kitchen where cleaning agents or other toxic substances were not segregated from food preparation areas in the way state code requires.
The shellfish citation adds a different kind of risk. Without shell stock identification tags and purchase records on file, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest source if a customer reports illness. The traceability requirement exists precisely because shellfish are consumed raw or lightly cooked and are among the foods most associated with norovirus and Vibrio outbreaks.
Inspectors also cited food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, food found in poor condition or mislabeled, and the absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked menu items. The four intermediate violations covered improper sewage or wastewater disposal, inadequate ventilation and lighting, inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities, and equipment in poor repair.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting violation is worth pausing on. State rules require food workers to notify their manager if they are experiencing symptoms associated with communicable illness, including vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, or sore throat with fever. The reason is straightforward: a sick employee handling food is the most direct transmission route for norovirus, one of the leading causes of restaurant-linked outbreaks in the United States. At DeRusso's, that reporting chain was not functioning on August 5.
The two chemical violations, read together, describe more than a paperwork problem. Toxic substances stored near food preparation surfaces or mislabeled can contaminate food directly, either through spillage or because an employee reaches for the wrong container. Acute chemical poisoning from restaurant settings is rare but documented, and the conditions that produce it are exactly what these citations describe.
Improper sewage disposal at a food service facility means the risk of fecal contamination spreading beyond the restroom. Raw sewage carries pathogens including E. coli and hepatitis A. Combined with the toilet facilities citation, the August 5 inspection describes a facility where the basic plumbing infrastructure supporting employee hygiene was not meeting code.
The Longer Record
The August 5 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show DeRusso's has been inspected 24 times and has accumulated 192 total violations across that history. It has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern of high-severity violations is consistent and recent. In February 2024, inspectors cited 8 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate ones, a count identical to the August 5 total. In July 2024, the tally was 7 high-severity and 5 intermediate. The January 2025 inspection produced 5 high-severity and 3 intermediate violations.
A follow-up inspection on August 13, one week after the visit that generated 8 high-severity citations, found 2 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations still on the books. The restaurant had addressed some of the August 5 findings but had not cleared its record entirely.
The Pattern
Every inspection conducted at DeRusso's since at least February 2024 has found high-severity violations. That is eight consecutive inspections, across more than two years, in which state inspectors documented conditions placing customers at direct risk of illness.
The illness-reporting failure is not a first. The undercooking citation is not a first. The chemical storage problems documented on August 5 appear against a backdrop of a facility that has repeatedly drawn high-severity findings without triggering an emergency closure order.
On August 5, 2026, a state inspector walked out of DeRusso's Pizzeria having documented 8 high-severity violations, including an employee not reporting illness, food not cooked to safe temperatures, and toxic chemicals improperly stored in a working kitchen. The restaurant continued serving customers.
