NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL. A state inspector visiting Panda Buffet on SR 44 on July 31 found that food was not being cooked to required minimum temperatures, a violation that means poultry and other proteins were served to customers without reaching the heat threshold that kills Salmonella. The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
That single violation would be enough to warrant serious concern at most establishments. At Panda Buffet, it was one of nine high-severity citations issued in a single inspection.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector documented that no person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties. State data consistently links the absence of active managerial control to higher rates of critical violations, and the July 31 visit appears to confirm that pattern: with no one effectively in charge, the violations cascaded across nearly every category of food safety.
The handwashing findings compounded each other in a specific way. Inspectors cited both inadequate handwashing facilities, meaning the physical infrastructure to wash hands properly was not in place, and improper handwashing technique, meaning that even where attempts were made, they were done incorrectly. Both citations in the same inspection means employees had neither the means nor the method to clean their hands effectively before handling food.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and similar equipment that touch food directly are a primary transfer point for bacteria, and unsanitized surfaces can carry pathogens from one food item to the next without any visible sign.
The restaurant also had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. At a buffet, where elderly diners, pregnant women, and customers with compromised immune systems may not know which items carry elevated risk, the absence of that notice removes the only warning they would have received.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of undercooking and no employee illness policy is particularly direct in its risk. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. If chicken or other proteins at Panda Buffet's steam tables or prep line did not reach that temperature, any Salmonella present on July 31 reached customers' plates alive. That is not a theoretical risk; it is the mechanism by which poultry-linked Salmonella outbreaks occur.
The illness reporting violation makes the picture worse. Without a written policy requiring employees to report symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea before their shift, a sick employee working the buffet line has no formal obligation to stay home. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses annually in the United States, spreads through exactly this route: an infected food handler who does not report symptoms and continues to work.
The time-as-public-health-control violation is specific to buffet operations. When a restaurant uses time rather than temperature to manage food safety, it must track precisely how long food has been in the temperature danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit and discard it within four hours. The citation means that system was not being followed correctly on July 31, and food may have remained in that range longer than the law allows.
The Longer Record
The July 31 inspection is not an anomaly. Panda Buffet has 43 inspections on record and 365 total violations documented over its history, an average of more than eight violations per inspection across its entire operating life.
The pattern in recent years is particularly consistent. On September 18, 2025, inspectors cited 10 high-severity violations, a number nearly identical to the nine found on July 31. A follow-up the next day, September 19, showed zero high-severity violations, suggesting rapid correction. Then on February 2, 2026, the restaurant again drew nine high-severity violations and four intermediate ones. A follow-up two days later, on February 4, again showed zero high-severity violations.
The July 31 inspection fits that same arc exactly: a large cluster of high-severity citations, followed by a clean follow-up on August 3 showing zero high or intermediate violations. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed in its 43 inspections on record.
Open for Business
What that pattern shows is a facility that can correct violations quickly when inspectors return for a follow-up, but has now accumulated three separate inspections with nine or more high-severity violations in less than a year. The corrections after each inspection have not prevented the next cluster from appearing.
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when a facility poses an immediate threat to public health. On July 31, with food not reaching required cooking temperatures, no illness reporting policy in place, handwashing facilities inadequate, and no one effectively supervising the operation, state inspectors determined that threshold had not been met.
Panda Buffet on SR 44 remained open that day.
