RIVERVIEW, FL. Back in April 2026, a state inspector walked into New China on US Highway 301 South and documented that the restaurant was serving food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, a violation that means customers had no way of knowing whether what they ate had ever passed a federal safety inspection.
That finding alone was enough to warrant a high-severity citation. It was one of six.
What Inspectors Found
The April 7 inspection produced eight total violations: six high-severity and two intermediate. The restaurant had no written employee health policy, meaning there was no formal mechanism to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. Inspectors also cited staff for improper handwashing technique, a finding distinct from simply not washing hands at all. Workers were making the attempt and still leaving pathogens behind.
Shellfish records were inadequate. State rules require restaurants to maintain identification tags for oysters, clams, and mussels so that any illness outbreak can be traced back to a specific harvest lot. Those records were not in order.
Food contact surfaces, the cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that touch what customers eventually eat, were not being properly cleaned and sanitized. The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory informing diners that certain menu items are served raw or undercooked, a notice that matters most for elderly customers, pregnant women, and anyone with a compromised immune system.
The two intermediate violations covered improper use of wiping cloths and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
The facility remained open after the inspection.
What These Violations Mean
Food from unapproved sources is one of the most serious categories in state inspection law, not because it guarantees illness, but because it eliminates the ability to respond when illness occurs. USDA and FDA inspections create a paper trail. When that chain is broken, there is no way to identify a contaminated lot, issue a recall, or notify other customers who may have eaten the same product.
The shellfish records violation compounds that risk. Oysters, clams, and mussels are frequently consumed raw or lightly cooked, and they are among the foods most commonly linked to Norovirus and Vibrio outbreaks. Without harvest identification tags on file, public health investigators responding to a reported illness have no starting point.
The employee health policy violation is a structural failure, not a single incident. A written policy is the mechanism that tells workers when to stay home and what symptoms require them to report to a manager. Without one, a worker with Norovirus, Salmonella, or Hepatitis A has no formal guidance directing them away from food preparation. Norovirus alone accounts for an estimated 20 million cases of foodborne illness in the United States annually, and direct transmission from an infected food handler is one of its primary routes.
Improperly cleaned food contact surfaces close the circuit. Even if food arrives safe and workers are healthy, bacteria transferred from an unsanitized cutting board or prep surface can contaminate dishes at the final stage before they reach a customer.
The Longer Record
The April 2026 inspection did not represent a new low for New China. It represented a continuation.
State records show 24 inspections on file and 265 total violations accumulated over the course of that history. Every inspection in the eight most recent cycles documented high-severity violations, without exception. The February 2025 inspection produced nine high-severity violations and four intermediate ones. The January 2024 inspection produced eight high-severity violations. The September 2024 inspection produced seven.
The pattern holds across years. In October 2023, inspectors cited seven high-severity and six intermediate violations in a single visit. In February 2023, the tally was six high-severity and five intermediate. In September 2022, it was eight high and four intermediate.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed. Not once across 24 inspections and 265 documented violations.
The Longer Record in Context
Some of the specific violation categories from April 2026 are not new to this facility's record either. Food sourcing, handwashing, and surface sanitation are among the categories that appear repeatedly across prior inspection cycles. A facility logging its first high-severity violation in a given category presents a different picture than one where inspectors are returning to the same problems year after year.
New China's 24 inspections span multiple years of operation. The 265 violations on record average out to more than 11 per inspection visit. The April 2026 visit, with 8 total violations, was actually below that average.
As of the April 7, 2026 inspection, New China on US Highway 301 South in Riverview was open for business.