ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL. State inspectors visiting Jerry's Pizza & Subs at 924 W SR 436 on April 20, 2026 found food coming from sources that had bypassed federal safety inspections entirely, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, and employees washing their hands in a way that left pathogens on their skin. The restaurant was not closed.
Six of the eight violations documented that day were classified as high severity. The facility remained open and serving customers.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is the one that carries the longest shadow. When a restaurant obtains food from unapproved or unknown sources, that food has not passed through USDA or FDA inspection checkpoints. If someone gets sick, there is no supply chain to trace, no lot number to pull, no distributor to contact.
The two chemical violations documented the same day compound the picture. Inspectors cited both improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and improperly identified, stored, or used toxic substances, two separate citations pointing at the same category of failure. Chemicals near food, or chemicals without clear labeling, can contaminate food directly or be mistaken for food-safe products.
Improper handwashing technique was also flagged as high severity. The distinction matters: an employee can go through the motions of washing their hands and still transfer pathogens if the technique is wrong. The violation means the handwashing happened but didn't work.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and equipment that touch food directly, were cited as improperly cleaned and sanitized. The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods, meaning customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised had no way of knowing they were at elevated risk.
The two intermediate violations, improperly cleaned multi-use utensils and improper use of wiping cloths, rounded out a day that produced no minor citations at all. Every violation recorded was at least intermediate severity.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is not a paperwork problem. It means the restaurant was serving ingredients with no verified inspection history, no pathogen testing, and no accountability if a customer became ill. Listeria and Salmonella contamination in uninspected food can go undetected until someone is hospitalized, and without a supply chain record, public health investigators have nothing to work backward from.
The chemical violations carry a different but immediate risk. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food preparation areas can contaminate food through splash, drip, or direct contact. Mislabeled chemicals can be applied to food surfaces or used in food preparation by mistake. Either scenario can cause acute poisoning.
The handwashing and surface sanitation violations work together in a way that multiplies risk. An employee with pathogens on their hands touches a cutting board that was not properly sanitized. That board contacts raw protein. The next item prepared on that surface picks up whatever was left behind. Each failure in the chain makes the next one more consequential.
The missing consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods left the most vulnerable customers, those on immunosuppressant medications, pregnant women, adults over 65, with no information they needed to make a safe choice about what to order.
The Longer Record
The April 20 inspection was not a departure from Jerry's Pizza & Subs' history. It was the worst single inspection in two years, but the pattern behind it stretches back through 17 inspections and 113 total violations on record.
The most comparable prior visit came in August 2023, when inspectors documented 7 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate, the only inspection in the facility's record that exceeded April's high-severity count. Four high-severity violations were recorded in April 2025. Two high-severity violations appeared in November 2025, just five months before this inspection.
High-severity violations have appeared in every inspection on record going back to at least 2020. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The consistent presence of high-severity citations across six years and multiple inspection cycles suggests these are not isolated lapses corrected between visits. The same categories, food handling, sanitation, chemical storage, have recurred across administrations and across years.
Still Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at Jerry's Pizza & Subs on April 20, 2026, including food from sources with no federal inspection record and toxic chemicals stored improperly near food. They left the restaurant open.
As of the inspection date, Jerry's Pizza & Subs at 924 W SR 436 in Altamonte Springs was operating with those violations on record.