OCALA, FL. State inspectors visiting Hacienda Colombiana 3 on SE Maricamp Road on August 26 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means some ingredients on the menu had bypassed every federal safety check designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and other pathogens before they reach a plate. The restaurant was not closed.
That single finding was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the inspection. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for improperly stored or unlabeled toxic chemicals, no written employee health policy, improper handwashing technique, inadequate shell stock identification records, food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and a failure to properly use time as a public health control. Five intermediate violations accompanied the seven high-priority citations.
What Inspectors Found
The shell stock violation is particularly specific. Shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, are often consumed raw or barely cooked. When the tags and receiving records that trace each batch back to its harvest bed are missing or inadequate, there is no way to identify the source if a customer gets sick. The tags are not a bureaucratic formality. They are the only thread that connects an ill diner to a contaminated harvest.
The toxic chemical citation adds a separate and more immediate danger. Chemicals stored near or improperly labeled around food can contaminate ingredients through splash, drip, or misidentification. A worker who mistakes an unlabeled chemical for a food-safe product does not know to stop.
What These Violations Mean
The unapproved food source violation is the one that makes every other finding harder to contain. USDA and FDA inspections exist to catch contamination before food enters a commercial kitchen. When a restaurant buys from a supplier outside that system, the safety net disappears entirely. If a customer becomes ill and investigators need to trace the ingredient, there may be no record to follow.
The employee health policy violation compounds the risk. Without a written policy requiring sick workers to stay home or report symptoms, a single employee with Norovirus can expose dozens of customers during a single shift. Norovirus accounts for roughly 20 million cases of acute gastroenteritis in the United States each year, and food workers are one of the most direct transmission routes.
Improper handwashing technique is distinct from no handwashing at all. Inspectors documented that employees were making an attempt but doing it wrong. Pathogens remain on hands even after an incomplete wash, meaning the attempt itself creates a false sense of safety. Combine that with food contact surfaces that were not properly sanitized, and the cross-contamination pathways multiply.
The time-as-public-health-control violation deserves its own attention. When a restaurant opts to use time rather than temperature to keep food safe, it takes on the responsibility of tracking exactly how long food has been in the temperature danger zone and discarding it on schedule. The inspector found that system was not being properly followed. Food that should have been discarded may not have been.
The Longer Record
The August 26 inspection was not an aberration. It was the sixth time in roughly two years that inspectors found serious problems at this address, and it produced results nearly identical to visits that came before it.
The inspection record for Hacienda Colombiana 3 spans seven visits and 68 total violations. The first two inspections, in May and November of 2024, were clean or nearly clean, with zero high-severity violations combined. Every inspection since has produced high-severity findings.
The deterioration is consistent and steep. Inspectors found seven high-severity violations in January 2025, eight in July 2025, ten in February 2026, six in April 2026, and seven again in August 2026. The categories repeat. Food sourcing, handwashing, sanitization, and employee health policy appear across multiple inspection cycles without apparent resolution.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed. In five consecutive inspections over 19 months, each producing between six and ten high-severity violations, the state has not issued an emergency shutdown order.
The Pattern
Across the full inspection record, this facility has accumulated 68 violations in seven visits. The most recent five inspections average more than seven high-severity violations each. The categories cited in August 2026, including unapproved food sources, improper sanitization, and no health policy, were present in earlier visits as well.
The August inspection found food from an unapproved source, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no written policy to keep sick workers out of the kitchen.
Hacienda Colombiana 3 was open for business when inspectors left.
