HOLIDAY, FL. A state inspector visiting Latin Japan on US Highway 19 on April 20 found that food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures, a violation that inspectors classify as a direct pathway to foodborne illness, and one of six high-severity citations issued that day. The restaurant was not closed.
The six high-severity violations documented at the Holiday fusion restaurant that afternoon covered nearly every critical control point in a commercial kitchen: food temperatures, surface sanitation, shellfish recordkeeping, handwashing technique, employee illness policy, and consumer notification for raw foods.
What Inspectors Found
The undercooking citation is the most direct threat to a customer who ate there that day. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A diner who ordered a chicken dish that did not reach that threshold had no way of knowing the food presented to them carried that risk.
The shellfish citation adds a different layer of danger. Latin Japan's menu crosses Latin and Japanese culinary traditions, meaning raw or lightly cooked shellfish, including oysters, clams, and mussels, may be on the plate. Without proper shell stock identification tags and records, there is no way to trace where those shellfish came from if a customer gets sick.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and equipment that touch ingredients before they reach the plate, were found not properly cleaned or sanitized. That creates a transfer route for bacteria from one food item to the next, even after surfaces appear to have been wiped down.
The inspector also cited improper handwashing technique. This means employees were making handwashing attempts, but doing so incorrectly, leaving pathogens on their hands before returning to food preparation.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is not a paperwork issue. Salmonella, the bacterium most associated with undercooked poultry and eggs, causes an estimated 1.35 million infections in the United States each year. A customer eating an undercooked dish at Latin Japan on April 20 would have had no indication the food was unsafe.
The shellfish traceability violation matters in a specific and serious way. Shellfish are filter feeders that concentrate whatever pathogens are present in the water where they are harvested, including Vibrio bacteria and norovirus. The identification tag system exists so that if multiple customers fall ill after eating raw shellfish at the same restaurant, investigators can identify the harvest location and pull that source from the supply chain. Without those records at Latin Japan, that chain breaks.
The absence of a written employee health policy means there is no formal mechanism to keep a sick worker out of the kitchen. Norovirus, which causes the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurants, spreads directly from an infected food handler to a customer's plate. A policy that exists only informally, or not at all, offers no reliable protection.
The consumer advisory violation is the final piece. Customers with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, older adults, and young children face a higher risk from raw and undercooked foods. Without a posted advisory, those customers cannot make an informed choice about what they order.
The Longer Record
Latin Japan: Recent Inspection History
The April 20 inspection was the 34th on record for Latin Japan. Across those 34 inspections, state records show 235 total violations accumulated at the address.
The six high-severity violations found this April are not a departure from recent form. The December 2025 inspection produced four high-severity citations. The April 2025 inspection, conducted on back-to-back days, produced five high-severity violations on April 24 and four more on April 25. In January 2025, inspectors returned twice in a single day, finding six high-severity violations and five intermediate violations on the first visit, and documenting roach activity serious enough to order an emergency closure.
That closure lasted hours. The restaurant reopened the same day it was shut.
The one inspection in this window with zero high-severity or intermediate violations was April 23, 2024. Every inspection before and after that date in the available record shows high-severity citations.
After the April 20, 2026 inspection, with six high-severity violations documented, including food that was not cooked to a safe temperature and shellfish with no traceable origin, Latin Japan remained open for business.