NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL. Food from unapproved or unknown sources was among nine high-severity violations cited at Mi Mexico Mexican Restaurant on S. Atlantic Avenue during a July 10 inspection, yet state inspectors left the restaurant open to continue serving customers.
The inspection also turned up toxic substances that were improperly identified, stored, or used, a violation inspectors flagged as creating an immediate risk of chemical contamination. That finding, alongside the unapproved food source citation, placed the restaurant in territory that regulators typically treat as the most urgent category of food safety failure.
What Inspectors Found
The nine high-severity citations covered nearly every layer of the kitchen operation. Inspectors cited the restaurant for having no person in charge present or performing duties, no written employee health policy, and employees who were not reporting illness symptoms.
Two separate handwashing violations were documented: inadequate handwashing by food employees and improper hand and arm washing technique. Both were cited as high-severity findings, meaning inspectors treated them as direct contamination risks rather than procedural paperwork.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, and the restaurant had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. The four intermediate violations included improperly used wiping cloths, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, inadequate toilet facilities, and equipment in poor repair.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved or unknown sources is not a labeling technicality. When food enters a kitchen outside the regulated supply chain, it bypasses USDA and FDA inspection checkpoints designed to catch Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli before they reach a plate. If a customer gets sick, there is no paper trail to trace the ingredient back to its origin.
The toxic substance violation compounds that risk. Chemicals stored or used improperly in a food service kitchen can contaminate surfaces, utensils, and food directly. The danger is not theoretical or slow-developing. It is immediate.
The cluster of illness-related violations at Mi Mexico, specifically the absence of a written employee health policy and the failure of employees to report symptoms, describes a kitchen where a sick worker has no formal obligation to stay home and no documented system telling them to do so. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently through exactly this pathway: an infected food handler with no policy requiring disclosure.
Improper handwashing technique matters even when employees do wash their hands. Studies show that incorrect technique leaves pathogens on skin even after a handwashing attempt, and those pathogens transfer directly to food contact surfaces and to food itself.
The Longer Record
The July 10 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Mi Mexico has been inspected 48 times, accumulating 475 total violations across its history in New Smyrna Beach.
The pattern in recent years is one of sharp spikes followed by brief recoveries. On December 27, 2024, inspectors cited the restaurant for 14 high-severity violations and 6 intermediate violations, the worst single-visit total in the recent record. A follow-up visit on January 2, 2025 found 3 high-severity violations, and a visit the next day found none. On July 9, 2025, one day before the anniversary of this year's inspection, inspectors documented 8 high-severity violations and 4 intermediate violations. A follow-up on July 18 found 1 high-severity violation.
The restaurant was emergency-closed once before, in March 2017, for rodent activity.
What the inspection history shows is a facility that clears violations when inspectors return for follow-up, then rebuilds them. The December 2024 visit with 14 high-severity findings was followed within a week by a visit showing zero high-severity violations. The July 2025 visit with 8 high-severity findings was followed nine days later by a visit showing one. The July 2026 inspection, with 9 high-severity violations, has not yet produced a documented follow-up in the available record.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when a facility poses an immediate threat to public health. State inspectors determined that threshold was not met on July 10, despite the nine high-severity findings.
The food from an unapproved source was still in the kitchen. The toxic substances were still improperly stored. There was still no written employee health policy.
Mi Mexico remained open.
