MIAMI, FL. Inspectors who visited MIA Market at 140 NE 39th Street in Miami's Design District on April 22 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means no government inspector ever checked that food before it reached customers' plates.
That was one of eight high-severity violations documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation is among the most direct threats to customer health in the April 22 report. Inspectors cited the facility for food not reaching required minimum temperatures, a failure that allows Salmonella in poultry and other heat-sensitive pathogens to survive and reach the table.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near food. That is a separate and acute hazard: a mislabeled or misplaced chemical container can contaminate food or trigger accidental poisoning without any visible sign that something is wrong.
The inspector also cited food described as in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, alongside a citation for food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Both citations appeared in the same inspection.
Employees were observed using improper hand and arm washing technique. Unlike a skipped handwash, this violation means workers believed they had cleaned their hands when pathogens remained.
No manager or person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the visit. The facility also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked menu items, leaving customers with no warning that certain dishes carry elevated risk.
What These Violations Mean
The unapproved food source citation is the one that carries consequences well beyond a single meal. When food enters a restaurant through channels that bypass USDA or FDA inspection, there is no traceable supply chain. If a customer gets sick, investigators cannot follow the food back to its origin to determine whether others were exposed or to pull contaminated product from circulation.
The undercooking violation compounds that risk directly. Salmonella survives in poultry held below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. E. coli survives in ground beef below 155 degrees. A kitchen that is sourcing food from unverified suppliers and not cooking it to required temperatures has removed two of the most basic safety barriers between a contaminated ingredient and a sick customer.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces, the kind of violation also documented on April 22, are how pathogens move from one ingredient to another. Bacterial biofilms can form on cutting boards and prep surfaces within 24 hours of inadequate sanitation, and those films are resistant to routine wiping.
The person-in-charge violation ties all of the others together. CDC data shows that establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with engaged supervision. When no one is running the kitchen, the other failures tend to follow.
The Longer Record
The April 22 inspection was not MIA Market's first difficult visit. State records show 22 inspections on file and 160 total violations accumulated across that history.
The most intensive stretch came in early 2024. Inspectors visited on January 24 and found seven high-severity violations, then returned the same day and cited five more high-severity violations in a separate report. A follow-up on January 31 produced four more high-severity citations. Three inspection reports in eight days, all with multiple high-severity findings.
The pattern did not stop there. A June 2023 visit produced six high-severity violations. An October 2025 inspection found three high-severity violations. The April 22, 2026 inspection, with eight high-severity citations, is the highest single-visit count in the recent record.
MIA Market has never been emergency-closed in its 22 inspections on file. The facility walked out of April 22 with eight high-severity violations documented, including food from an unknown source, an undercooking citation, and toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, and continued operating.