TAMPA, FL. A state inspector walked into La Michoacana Ice Cream 3 on East Fowler Avenue on May 6, 2026, and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means there is no way to trace where that food came from if a customer gets sick.
That was one of eight high-severity violations documented that day. The shop remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The full list of eight high-severity violations also included food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, no employee health policy, improper hand and arm washing technique, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, no allergen awareness demonstrated, and inadequate shell stock identification records.
Four intermediate violations accompanied those findings: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, single-use items improperly reused, improper use of wiping cloths, and equipment in poor repair.
What These Violations Mean
Food from an unapproved or unknown source means the ingredients bypassed USDA and FDA safety inspections entirely. If a customer becomes ill after eating at this location, investigators have no supply chain to trace, no lot numbers to pull, no distributor to contact. The trail goes cold before it starts.
The cooking temperature violation is a direct pathogen survival problem. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer who ate undercooked food at this location on May 6 had no way of knowing that.
No allergen awareness demonstrated means staff could not reliably tell a customer whether a dish contained tree nuts, peanuts, dairy, or any of the other major allergens. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans and send roughly 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. An ice cream shop, where dairy and nut-based ingredients are routine, is a particularly high-stakes setting for this failure.
The hand-washing technique violation compounds the disease transmission risk. Inspectors noted not just that employees skipped hand-washing, but that the technique used was incorrect, meaning pathogens remained on hands even after a washing attempt was made. Combined with the absence of a written employee health policy, there is no documented system to keep sick workers away from food preparation.
The Longer Record
This was not the first time state inspectors left La Michoacana Ice Cream 3 with a significant list of high-severity violations. The shop has been inspected six times since October 2023, accumulating 46 total violations across that span, with no emergency closures on record.
The pattern sharpened considerably in the past seven months. An inspection on April 15, 2026, just three weeks before this visit, produced an identical count: 8 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations. The two inspections together account for 24 of the facility's 46 total recorded violations.
Prior to that, the shop's violation counts were lower. The October 2025 visit produced 1 high and 3 intermediate violations. The March 2025 inspection found 2 high and 1 intermediate. The October 2023 inspection found 1 high and 1 intermediate violation.
The spike from single-digit violation totals in 2025 to eight consecutive high-severity findings across two inspections in spring 2026 is the sharpest deterioration in the facility's recorded history.
Still Open
State inspectors documented twelve violations on May 6, eight of them classified as high severity. Among those eight were an unverifiable food source, undercooked food, no allergen training, and improperly sanitized food contact surfaces.
La Michoacana Ice Cream 3 on East Fowler Avenue was not closed.