FERNANDINA BEACH, FL. State inspectors visiting New China at 1013 Amelia Plaza on April 24 found food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, and no person in charge present or performing duties. The restaurant collected seven high-severity violations and three intermediate violations during that single visit. It was not emergency-closed.
What Inspectors Found
The cooking temperature violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at New China that day. Poultry and other proteins not brought to required minimum temperatures can carry live Salmonella, a pathogen that survives undercooking and causes severe illness within hours of ingestion.
Toxic chemicals stored improperly near food is a separate and acute risk. Mislabeled or misplaced chemicals can contaminate food directly, and the symptoms of chemical poisoning can appear before anyone realizes the source.
Inspectors also cited inadequate handwashing facilities alongside a separate violation for improper hand and arm washing technique. Both violations were present at the same time, meaning employees had neither the infrastructure nor the practice to wash their hands correctly.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that are not sanitized between uses become direct transfer points for whatever bacteria was on the last item processed there.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of violations at New China on April 24 represents multiple simultaneous breakdowns, not isolated oversights. The absence of a person in charge performing duties is significant on its own. CDC data indicates that establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at roughly three times the rate of those with engaged management. Every other violation found that day existed in that context.
Undercooked food and unsanitized food contact surfaces are two of the most direct routes to foodborne illness. When food is not cooked to minimum required temperatures, pathogens that would otherwise be destroyed survive and reach the customer. When the surfaces used to prepare that food are not properly cleaned, bacteria from one item transfers directly to the next.
The handwashing violations compound both risks. Improper technique means that even when an employee attempts to wash their hands, pathogens can remain on skin and transfer to food. Without adequate facilities, the attempt may not be made at all.
The consumer advisory violation means customers ordering any raw or undercooked items had no notice of the risk. That matters most for elderly customers, pregnant women, young children, and anyone with a compromised immune system, all of whom face higher rates of serious complications from foodborne illness.
The Longer Record
New China, Fernandina Beach: Inspection Pattern Since 2023
April's inspection was not an anomaly. New China has accumulated 211 violations across 26 inspections on record, and the most recent four substantive inspections, spanning January 2026, December 2024, October 2024, and now April 2026, each produced seven or more high-severity violations.
The restaurant was emergency-closed in October 2024 after inspectors documented rodent activity. It reopened the following day. Three months later, in December 2024, inspectors returned and found nine high-severity violations, the highest single-inspection count in the recent record. A same-day follow-up inspection that December showed no violations, a pattern that suggests rapid corrective action in response to inspector presence rather than sustained compliance.
January 2026 brought eight high-severity violations and five intermediate ones. Three months after that, the April 2026 inspection found seven high-severity violations again, with the facility again falling short on cooking temperatures, sanitation, handwashing, and management oversight.
These are not isolated categories. Food contact surface sanitation, handwashing failures, and the absence of effective managerial control have appeared across multiple inspection cycles at this location.
Still Open
State inspection records show New China remained open following the April 24 inspection. No emergency closure was ordered despite seven high-severity violations that included undercooked food, improperly stored chemicals, and surfaces that were not properly sanitized.
The restaurant has been cited for a combined 15 high-severity violations across its two most recent inspections alone.
It was open for business after both of them.