WINTER SPRINGS, FL. A state inspector walked into Keke's Breakfast Cafe at 1005 Spring Villas Point on July 30 and left with six high-severity violations documented, including findings that fish was being served without required parasite-destruction procedures and that food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures. The restaurant was not closed.
The July 30 inspection also turned up improper handwashing technique, food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized, no written employee health policy, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. An intermediate violation for inadequate cooling and cold-holding equipment rounded out the list.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite-destruction citation is among the most specific findings. When fish is served undercooked or without a documented freezing protocol, parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm can survive and infect the customer who eats it. State rules require either cooking fish to the proper internal temperature or freezing it at a specific temperature for a set period before service. The inspector found neither requirement was being met.
The food-temperature violation compounded that risk. Undercooking is one of the leading documented causes of foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States. Salmonella in poultry, for example, survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The inspection record does not specify which proteins were involved, but the violation was flagged as high-severity.
The finding on food contact surfaces matters separately. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that are not properly sanitized between uses become a transfer point for bacteria from one food to another, or from a contaminated surface to food that will not be cooked again before it reaches a plate.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and improper handwashing technique is worth reading together. A written health policy is the mechanism that keeps sick workers out of the kitchen. Without one, there is no documented standard requiring an employee with Norovirus symptoms to stay home. Norovirus is transmitted person-to-person and through contaminated food and surfaces, and a single sick food handler can expose dozens of customers before symptoms are even reported.
Improper handwashing technique is a separate failure. An employee can go through the motions of washing their hands and still leave pathogens on their skin if the technique is wrong. Studies have documented that incorrect handwashing leaves measurable bacterial contamination on hands even after the attempt. At a breakfast cafe where eggs, meat, and ready-to-eat foods move through the same hands, that is a direct transmission route.
The consumer advisory violation affects the most vulnerable diners specifically. Elderly customers, pregnant women, young children, and people with compromised immune systems face the highest risk from raw or undercooked animal products. A posted advisory gives those customers the information they need to make a different choice. Without one, they order not knowing the risk.
The intermediate citation for inadequate cooling equipment sits beneath all of this. Equipment that cannot hold food at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below allows bacteria to multiply in what food safety regulators call the danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees. Inadequate equipment is not a procedural lapse. It is a structural failure that persists across every service hour until the equipment is repaired or replaced.
The Longer Record
The July 30 inspection was not an outlier. State records show 31 total inspections on file for this location, with 176 violations accumulated across that history. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern across recent inspections is consistent. In October 2024, inspectors documented five high-severity violations and three intermediate violations. In February 2024, two separate inspections in the same month each produced four and five high-severity violations respectively. In January 2026, the inspection turned up four high-severity violations and three intermediate violations.
The July 30 inspection, with six high-severity findings, is the highest single-inspection count in the recent record shown here. A follow-up inspection on August 10 documented one high-severity violation, suggesting some corrections were made. But the August 10 inspection came eleven days after a visit that found food being served without parasite-destruction protocols and cooking temperatures that did not meet state minimums.
Remained Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines that conditions pose an immediate threat to the public. Six high-severity violations, including undercooked food, fish served without parasite-destruction documentation, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and no mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen, did not meet that threshold on July 30 at this location.
Keke's Breakfast Cafe at 1005 Spring Villas Point served customers through the rest of that day and the days that followed.
