FORT MYERS, FL. State inspectors walked into Pho 99 at 1791 Boy Scout Drive on July 20, 2026, and found toxic chemicals stored or labeled improperly near food, one of six high-severity violations documented that day. The restaurant was not closed.
The July inspection turned up a total of eight violations: six rated high-severity and two intermediate. Among the high-severity findings were two separate chemical storage citations, one for toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled and a second for toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Both categories carry an immediate risk of chemical contamination of food or food-contact surfaces.
What Inspectors Found
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for having no employee health policy, or an inadequate one. That means no written system existed to keep sick workers out of the kitchen.
The handwashing citation compounds that problem. Inspectors found that employees were using improper technique, meaning pathogens can remain on hands even after a worker makes an attempt to wash them. Combined with food contact surfaces that were not properly cleaned or sanitized, the conditions created multiple overlapping routes for bacterial transfer.
The restaurant was also cited for failing to post a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Pho menus frequently include options with rare beef, and without a posted advisory, customers with compromised immune systems, elderly diners, pregnant women, and children have no way to make an informed choice about the risk.
On the intermediate level, inspectors cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal and improper use of wiping cloths. Sewage violations carry a risk of fecal contamination spreading through a facility. Wiping cloths, when used incorrectly, move bacteria from one surface to another rather than removing it.
What These Violations Mean
The two chemical storage violations together represent one of the more acute risks in this inspection. Chemicals stored near food or mislabeled can contaminate dishes without any visible sign, and the exposure can cause acute poisoning. A customer who ordered a bowl of pho on July 20 had no way to know that toxic substances were being improperly handled in the kitchen behind the counter.
The absence of an employee health policy is not a paperwork technicality. Norovirus, which causes millions of illnesses in the United States each year, spreads rapidly when sick food workers handle food without any system in place to send them home. At Pho 99, there was no written policy to enforce that boundary.
The handwashing and unclean food contact surface violations work together. Improper technique leaves pathogens on hands. Those hands then touch cutting boards, bowls, utensils, and prep surfaces that were themselves not properly sanitized. Each step in that chain is a transfer point.
The consumer advisory gap is specific to what pho restaurants serve. Raw or rare beef is a standard menu option in Vietnamese pho, and the state requires restaurants to warn customers when food may be served undercooked. Without that notice, vulnerable diners cannot protect themselves.
The Longer Record
The July 2026 inspection was not an outlier. Records show Pho 99 has been inspected 23 times and has accumulated 133 total violations across its history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The most recent inspection before July was in January 2026, when inspectors found four high-severity and three intermediate violations. Before that, an August 2025 visit turned up three high and three intermediate. Going back further, September 2024 produced five high and three intermediate, and March 2024 produced five high and three intermediate as well.
The July 2026 tally of six high-severity violations ties the highest single-inspection count in the available record, matching a September 2023 inspection that also produced six high-severity violations with no intermediate citations.
High-severity violations have appeared in every single inspection on record at Pho 99, going back through all eight prior inspections in the data. The lowest count in any single visit was one high-severity violation, in January 2025. Every other inspection produced two or more.
Open for Business
Six high-severity violations, two intermediate citations, 133 violations on record, and a pattern that has held across three years of inspections. After the July 20, 2026 visit, Pho 99 remained open.
