MOUNT DORA, FL. A state inspector walked into Lampu Steakhouse & Sushi on US Highway 441 on May 4 and found something that should have been in place from day one: no written employee health policy, and no system requiring sick workers to report their symptoms before handling food.
Both are separate high-severity violations. Together, they mean that on the day of inspection, there was no formal mechanism to keep a sick employee away from the food being served to customers.
The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The May 4 inspection produced 8 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate violations, a total of 13 citations across categories that range from chemical storage to raw shellfish recordkeeping.
Among the high-severity findings: food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, creating a direct vehicle for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat foods. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled near food areas, a condition that can cause acute poisoning through accidental contamination. Food was documented as being in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated.
The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods, a requirement that exists specifically to warn elderly diners, pregnant women, and immunocompromised customers about the risks of items like raw sushi and undercooked steak.
Shellfish traceability records were found to be inadequate. For a restaurant that serves sushi alongside a steakhouse menu, that gap is significant: if a customer fell ill after eating oysters or clams, investigators would have no reliable paper trail to identify the source.
On the intermediate side, inspectors cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, which carries fecal contamination risk throughout the facility. Single-use items were being reused. Wiping cloths were used improperly. Toilet facilities were inadequate or improperly maintained, a condition that directly discourages proper employee handwashing.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and no system for reporting illness symptoms is one of the most direct paths to a multi-victim outbreak in a food service setting. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads rapidly when a sick employee handles food without restriction. A written policy is the first line of defense. At Lampu on May 4, that line did not exist.
The improper handwashing technique violation compounds that risk. Even when an employee attempts to wash their hands, flawed technique leaves pathogens in place. At a restaurant that serves raw fish, that is not a theoretical concern.
The shellfish traceability failure carries a different kind of risk. Shellfish like oysters and clams are filter feeders that concentrate bacteria and viruses from surrounding water. They are often served raw or lightly cooked. When proper identification tags and receiving records are not maintained, there is no way to trace an illness back to a specific harvest area or supplier if customers become sick.
Improperly stored or mislabeled toxic chemicals near food represent an acute hazard. Unlike bacterial contamination, which takes hours or days to cause symptoms, chemical poisoning can be immediate. A mislabeled cleaner mistaken for a food-safe product, or a chemical stored above a prep surface, can end a meal in an emergency room.
The Longer Record
The May 4 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Lampu Steakhouse & Sushi has been inspected 29 times, accumulating 364 total violations across its history.
The six most recent inspections before May 4 each produced high-severity violations: 4 high in October 2025, 6 high in April 2025, 9 high in December 2024, 10 high in May 2024, 5 high in December 2023, and 7 high in June 2023. The pattern is unbroken across three years.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, in April 2018, after inspectors documented roach activity. It was allowed to reopen the following day.
The only inspection in recent years that produced zero high-severity violations was November 15, 2022, which came one day after an inspection on November 14, 2022 that found 8 high-severity violations. That sequence, a clean bill one day after a serious citation list, is the closest the facility's record comes to a turning point. It did not hold.
Still Open
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Eight high-severity violations at a restaurant serving raw shellfish and sushi, with no employee illness policy and improperly stored chemicals, did not meet that threshold on May 4.
Lampu Steakhouse & Sushi remained open after the inspection.