MARGATE, FL. A state inspector walked into La Union Restaurant of Fla on S State Road 7 on June 5 and found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, no written employee health policy, and no one in charge performing supervisory duties. The restaurant was not closed.
The inspection documented 7 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations in a single visit. Under Florida food safety rules, high-severity violations are those most directly linked to foodborne illness outbreaks.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at the restaurant that day. Undercooking is a leading cause of foodborne illness, and Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
Three of the seven high-severity violations involved illness policy failures. Inspectors cited the restaurant for having no written employee health policy, for employees not reporting symptoms of illness, and for no person in charge actively performing supervisory duties. Those three violations together describe a kitchen where sick workers could prepare and serve food without any formal system to catch or stop them.
The inspector also cited food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked menu items, and required procedures for specialized food processes not being followed. Inspectors noted multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and single-use items being reused.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of an employee health policy and the failure of employees to report illness symptoms are not paperwork problems. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads almost exclusively through infected food workers handling food without being removed from service. A written health policy is the mechanism that keeps a sick cook off the line. Without one at La Union Restaurant, there was no documented protocol in place.
The cooking temperature violation compounds that risk. Food that reaches a customer's table without hitting the required minimum internal temperature can carry live Salmonella, Campylobacter, or other pathogens that heat would otherwise destroy. The consumer advisory violation is directly tied to this: without a posted advisory, customers who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or very young have no way of knowing they are ordering food that may be served undercooked.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces create a second contamination route, independent of sick workers or undercooked food. Bacteria transferred from a contaminated cutting board or prep surface can reach food that was otherwise properly handled and cooked. The intermediate violation for single-use items being reused extends that contamination risk further.
Improper waste disposal rounds out the picture. Overflowing or mismanaged waste attracts rodents, cockroaches, and flies, all of which are capable of carrying pathogens from garbage into the kitchen.
The Longer Record
The June 5 inspection did not happen in isolation. State records show La Union Restaurant has been inspected 46 times and has accumulated 394 total violations across its history.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. On July 10, 2025, inspectors documented 10 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations in a single visit. A follow-up the next day, July 11, still found 4 high-severity violations. On November 5, 2025, the restaurant again drew 7 high-severity and 4 intermediate violations, the same total as the June 5, 2026 inspection. A follow-up the next day still produced 3 high-severity violations.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, on October 7, 2021, after inspectors documented roach and fly activity. It was allowed to reopen the following day.
The Pattern
What the inspection history shows is not a restaurant that had one bad day. The July 2025 pair of inspections, the November 2025 pair, and now the June 2026 inspection follow the same arc: a high-severity count in the range of 7 to 10, a follow-up that confirms some violations persist, and no emergency closure.
The three illness-policy violations cited on June 5 are particularly notable in context. No written health policy, no employee illness reporting, and no active person in charge are violations that can be corrected the same day a citation is issued. They were still present at La Union Restaurant on June 5, 2026.
The restaurant remained open after the inspection.