JACKSONVILLE, FL. State inspectors visiting Fuji Buffet on Dunn Avenue on April 21 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers being served to customers at a restaurant that had no written employee health policy, no system for workers to report illness symptoms, and no consumer advisory warning diners that raw or undercooked items were on the menu.
The inspection logged 10 high-severity violations and one intermediate. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is among the most serious a buffet can receive. When food arrives from suppliers outside the regulated supply chain, there is no USDA or FDA inspection record attached to it, and no traceability if a customer gets sick.
Inspectors also cited inadequate shell stock identification records. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are high-risk foods often consumed raw or lightly cooked. Without proper tagging and harvest records, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch back to its source after the fact.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. At a buffet where food sits in open trays and surfaces are shared, a mislabeled or misplaced chemical container is not a paperwork problem. It is a direct contamination risk.
The inspector also cited improper use of time as a public health control. Buffets frequently use time rather than temperature to manage food safety, allowing items to remain in the danger zone for a set window before they are discarded. When that system is not properly followed, food can sit at temperatures that allow rapid bacterial growth for longer than any safety protocol permits.
What These Violations Mean
The three illness-related violations found together, no health policy, no symptom reporting system, and a person in charge not actively performing duties, form a particularly dangerous combination at a buffet. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States, spreads when sick food workers handle items that go directly to customers. A written health policy and a functioning reporting system are the two primary tools meant to catch that before it happens. Neither was in place.
The handwashing technique violation compounds this. Inspectors do not cite this violation when an employee simply skips handwashing. They cite it when an employee attempts to wash hands but does so incorrectly, leaving pathogens on the skin. At a buffet with shared serving utensils and high customer turnover, that residual contamination transfers quickly.
The absence of a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods matters most to the customers least able to protect themselves. Elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system face elevated risk from undercooked proteins. Without a posted advisory, those customers have no information to act on.
Food contact surfaces that are not properly cleaned develop bacterial biofilms, layers of bacteria that standard wiping does not remove. Multi-use utensils with the same problem, cited here as an intermediate violation, create a secondary transfer point at every station where they are used.
The Longer Record
The April 21 inspection is not an anomaly. State records show 32 inspections on file for Fuji Buffet, with 364 total violations documented across that history.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. In October 2023, inspectors found 11 high-severity violations. In July 2023, they found 9. In December 2024, 8 high-severity violations. In April 2025, 10 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate. The October 2025 follow-up showed zero violations, as did a prior October 2023 re-inspection, suggesting the restaurant can meet standards when inspectors are expected back. The violations return.
The April 2026 inspection produced the same count as the April 2025 inspection: 10 high-severity violations. One year apart, same number, overlapping categories.
Fuji Buffet has never been emergency-closed in its inspection history on record.
Still Open
State inspectors documented 10 high-severity violations at a Jacksonville buffet on April 21, 2026. They found food from an unapproved source, no illness reporting system for employees, chemicals stored improperly near food, and no warning to customers that raw or undercooked items were being served.
When the inspection was complete, the restaurant remained open.