WINTER SPRINGS, FL. A food worker at the Dough Show Perkins at 701 E SR 434 was found not reporting symptoms of illness during a September 25 state inspection, a violation that public health data links directly to multi-victim outbreaks, and inspectors documented ten additional high-severity violations the same day. The restaurant remained open.
The September 25 visit produced 11 high-severity citations and 5 intermediate violations, the second-worst single-inspection total in the facility's recorded history.
What Inspectors Found
The illness-reporting failure was not the only violation pointing at a kitchen without adequate oversight. Inspectors also found no employee health policy on file, meaning there was no written protocol in place to screen or exclude sick workers before they handled food.
Person in charge was cited as not present or not performing duties. That citation sat alongside findings of inadequate handwashing facilities and improper hand and arm washing technique, two violations that compound each other: even when workers attempted to wash their hands, inspectors found the technique insufficient to remove pathogens.
Inspectors also cited the facility for inadequate shell stock identification records, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food in poor condition or mislabeled, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and required procedures for specialized processes not followed. Toxic substances were found to be improperly identified, stored, or used.
On the intermediate side, inspectors flagged improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items improperly reused, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting violation is the one that most directly put customers at risk. When a food worker with Norovirus, Salmonella, or Hepatitis A continues handling food without disclosing symptoms, every plate that leaves the kitchen is a potential transmission event. The absence of a written employee health policy means there was no formal mechanism to prevent that from happening, even in theory.
The shellfish traceability failure compounds a separate category of risk. Without proper shell stock identification tags and records, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest source if a customer becomes ill. That traceability is the only tool regulators have to identify and pull a contaminated batch before it reaches more tables.
Parasite destruction procedures exist specifically to kill organisms like Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork that survive improper cooking or inadequate freezing. When those procedures are skipped or not documented, the kill step is effectively absent. The consumer advisory violation means customers ordering raw or undercooked items at this location were not warned, removing their ability to make an informed choice about that risk.
Improperly stored toxic substances in a food-service environment creates a direct chemical contamination pathway. A cleaning product stored above or adjacent to food, or an unlabeled chemical mistaken for a food-safe item, can poison a customer without any warning sign.
The Longer Record
The September 25 inspection was not an anomaly. In the 42 inspections on record for this location, inspectors have documented 409 total violations.
Dough Show Perkins, Winter Springs: Recent Inspection Pattern
The facility was emergency-closed on August 24, 2023, for roach activity and allowed to reopen the next day. High-severity violation counts have climbed since then rather than retreating. The July 15, 2025, inspection produced 10 high-severity citations and 5 intermediate violations. The September 22, 2025, inspection produced 8 high-severity citations and 5 intermediate violations.
The September 25, 2026, inspection, with 11 high-severity violations, is the worst single-visit total in this location's recorded history.
A follow-up visit on October 5, 2026, found the facility down to 1 high-severity and 2 intermediate violations, suggesting the most acute problems were corrected quickly after inspectors departed. The pattern across the prior eight inspections shows a recurring cycle: elevated counts, partial correction, elevated counts again.
Still Open
State inspectors did not order the Dough Show Perkins closed on September 25, despite documenting 11 high-severity violations that included a sick employee not reporting symptoms, no written health policy, improper toxic storage, and missing shellfish traceability records.
The restaurant served customers that day.
