ST. CLOUD, FL. A state inspector visiting Mizu Sushi at 4045 13th Street on September 28, 2026 found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, a violation that carries immediate risk of chemical contamination of the food being served to customers that day.
That was one of seven high-severity violations documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The toxic chemical findings came in two separate citations. Inspectors flagged both improper storage or labeling of toxic chemicals and improper identification, storage, or use of toxic substances. Two distinct chemical-handling failures at a restaurant where raw fish is prepared and served.
No manager was on duty, or the person designated was not performing managerial duties. That matters because active managerial control is the mechanism through which every other food safety standard at a restaurant is supposed to be enforced.
The inspector also cited inadequate handwashing facilities and improper hand and arm washing technique, two violations that compound each other. Workers lacked the infrastructure to wash their hands correctly, and when they did attempt to wash, the technique was wrong.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. At a sushi restaurant, where raw fish moves from prep surfaces directly to a customer's plate with no cooking step to kill pathogens, that citation is not minor.
The seventh violation involved time as a public health control. Sushi restaurants often use time rather than temperature to manage food safety for items like raw fish held at room temperature. When that system breaks down, food sits in the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees, for longer than regulations allow, and the clock on bacterial growth runs without anyone tracking it.
What These Violations Mean
The two chemical violations together describe a kitchen where substances that can cause acute poisoning are not properly identified, not properly stored, and not properly labeled. Mislabeled chemicals can be mistaken for food-safe products. Chemicals stored near food can contaminate ingredients or prep surfaces without anyone noticing until a customer becomes ill.
The handwashing failures are a layered problem. Inadequate facilities means the physical infrastructure, soap, running water, a dedicated sink, was missing or compromised. Improper technique means that even when employees tried to wash their hands, they did it wrong. At a sushi operation where employees handle raw fish repeatedly, hands are one of the most direct transmission routes for pathogens like Salmonella and Listeria.
Improperly sanitized food contact surfaces are a primary vehicle for bacterial transfer. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils that are not cleaned between uses carry contamination from one food item to the next. In a raw-fish environment, that cross-contamination risk is acute.
The absence of a person in charge performing their duties connects to every other violation on the list. CDC data cited in the inspection record shows establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with engaged management. At Mizu Sushi on September 28, the record reflects what that looks like in practice.
The Longer Record
The September 2026 inspection was not an outlier. State records show Mizu Sushi has been inspected 26 times and has accumulated 264 violations in total.
Mizu Sushi: Recent Inspection History
Every single inspection in the available record shows at least four high-severity violations. The November 2024 visit produced eight. The pattern across eight consecutive inspections is not a restaurant that occasionally falls short. It is a restaurant that has never, in the documented record, passed an inspection without multiple serious citations.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed. Despite a history stretching back through 2022 that shows high-severity violations in every inspection on record, state inspectors have not ordered the doors shut.
Still Open
After the September 28 visit, with seven high-severity violations documented including two chemical-handling failures and no qualified manager present, Mizu Sushi remained open for business.
That is the last fact the record provides.
