JACKSONVILLE, FL. Famous Amos at 11565 N Main St drew 12 high-severity violations during the week of October 10, the highest single-facility count among 15 Jacksonville restaurants cited for serious food safety failures in state inspection records.
The violations at Famous Amos read like a cascading management breakdown. Inspectors found no person in charge present or performing duties, no written employee health policy, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and inadequate handwashing facilities, all in the same visit. Shellfish on the premises had no identification tags or traceability records. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and time was being used as a public health control without the required documentation to make that legal.
The Violations
Fuji 3 at 11362 San Jose Blvd followed with 10 high-severity violations. Among the most serious: food from an unapproved or unknown source, meaning inspectors could not verify where the food came from or whether it had passed federal safety inspections. Shellfish traceability records were also absent, and employees were not reporting illness symptoms.
Subway at 4375 Southside Blvd accumulated 8 high-severity violations, including food not cooked to the required minimum temperature and toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled. Inspectors also found no allergen awareness demonstrated, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
Yashi Sushi at 4820 Deer Lake Drive West drew 7 high-severity violations, including a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures for raw fish. Without proper freezing protocols, parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm can survive in fish served to customers. Toxic chemicals were also improperly stored, and no consumer advisory for raw foods was posted.
Jax Fish and Chicken Always Fresh at 8015 Merrill Rd was cited for the same parasite destruction failure, and additionally for food not cooked to the required minimum temperature. Inspectors found inadequate handwashing by food employees, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used.
Steak 'n Shake #583 at 10661 San Jose Blvd had 7 high-severity violations, including improper sewage or wastewater disposal, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. No allergen awareness was demonstrated, and no person in charge was present or performing duties.
Purple Roots at 4549 Southside Blvd was cited for food from an unapproved or unknown source and food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, alongside a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures. Inspectors also flagged improper sewage or wastewater disposal as an intermediate violation.
Starving Like Marvin #2 at 311 W Ashley St had inadequate handwashing facilities, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Inspectors also cited inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities, a condition that directly discourages employee hand hygiene.
Jimmy John's 2174 at 11616 San Jose Blvd drew 6 high-severity violations including food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, and a failure to follow parasite destruction procedures. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and no allergen awareness was demonstrated.
Hard Pressed Burgers at 1636 Hendricks Ave was cited for improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, and time as a public health control not properly used. Shellfish traceability records were absent.
Great Wall at 12200 San Jose Blvd had no person in charge present, no written employee health policy, and employees not reporting illness symptoms, the same three-violation cluster that opened the Famous Amos record. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and no allergen awareness was demonstrated.
Jax Fish Shrimp and Chicken at 656 Edgewood Ave had a single high-severity violation, a missing person in charge, alongside an intermediate citation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
904 Deli at 5285 Shad Rd drew one high-severity violation, for employees not reporting illness symptoms.
Hardee's at 11191 San Jose Blvd and Kazu Sushi Burrito at 117 W Adams St each received a single intermediate violation for improperly reused single-use items, with no high-severity findings recorded.
What These Violations Mean
The most common high-severity violation this week, employees not reporting illness symptoms, appeared at 11 of the 15 facilities. That includes Famous Amos, Fuji 3, Yashi Sushi, Steak 'n Shake #583, Jax Fish and Chicken Always Fresh, Purple Roots, Starving Like Marvin #2, Jimmy John's 2174, Hard Pressed Burgers, Great Wall, and 904 Deli. Food workers who do not report symptoms of illness are the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus, which can be transmitted by a single infected worker touching food, causes an estimated 20 million illnesses annually in the United States.
The food sourcing violations at Fuji 3 and Purple Roots carry a distinct risk. When food comes from an unapproved or unknown source, it has bypassed USDA and FDA inspection systems entirely. If a customer gets sick, there is no supply chain to trace, no lot number to recall, and no way to identify other affected customers. Purple Roots compounded that with a citation for food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, the same category that also appeared at Jimmy John's 2174.
Parasite destruction failures at Yashi Sushi, Jax Fish and Chicken Always Fresh, Purple Roots, and Jimmy John's 2174 are particularly acute given the nature of the food served. Raw or lightly prepared fish requires documented freezing at specific temperatures for specific durations to kill parasites including Anisakis. Without that documentation, there is no way to confirm the protocol was followed.
The toxic chemical violations at Subway, Yashi Sushi, Steak 'n Shake #583, and Hard Pressed Burgers are not a paperwork problem. Cleaning chemicals stored near food or improperly labeled can cause acute poisoning through direct contamination or through an employee mistaking a chemical container for a food container.
The Longer Record
Fuji 3 has 38 prior inspections on record, the second-highest count among facilities cited this week, and still drew 10 high-severity violations including food from an unapproved source and absent shellfish traceability records. That volume of prior inspections represents years of regulatory contact, and the violations documented this week are not the kind that typically emerge only once.
Steak 'n Shake #583 has 36 prior inspections on record. Famous Amos has 31. Both facilities were cited this week for absent managerial oversight, meaning no person in charge was present or performing duties, which CDC data associates with three times the rate of critical violations at any given inspection.
Kazu Sushi Burrito leads all facilities this week with 44 prior inspections, yet received only a single intermediate violation. That record stands in contrast to Purple Roots, which has 20 prior inspections and already carries citations for unapproved food sources, parasite destruction failures, and sewage disposal problems.
Hard Pressed Burgers has 23 prior inspections on record and drew 6 high-severity violations this week, including improperly stored toxic chemicals and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Jimmy John's 2174 also has 24 prior inspections and was cited for food in poor condition alongside parasite destruction failures. Both facilities were inspected this week without a record of resolution posted in state records.
The Longer Pattern
Shellfish traceability failures appeared at eight facilities this week: Famous Amos, Fuji 3, Subway, Yashi Sushi, Steak 'n Shake #583, Jax Fish and Chicken Always Fresh, Purple Roots, and Hard Pressed Burgers. The citation means inspectors found shellfish on the premises, oysters, clams, or mussels, without the required identification tags showing harvest location, harvest date, and dealer certification. Those tags are the only mechanism that allows health officials to trace a shellfish-linked illness back to a specific harvest bed and pull product before more people are exposed.
Subway on Southside Blvd had no allergen awareness demonstrated and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, in a location where the menu includes items that can be ordered with undercooked proteins. Whether those deficiencies were corrected before the next customer was served is not reflected in this week's inspection records.
