NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL. State inspectors visiting Prima on Sams Avenue on May 4 found food that had not been cooked to the minimum required temperature, a violation that puts every customer who ordered that day at direct risk of consuming pathogens that survive undercooking, including Salmonella in poultry, which requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be destroyed.
That was one of six high-severity violations inspectors documented during the visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection record lists toxic substances as improperly identified, stored, or used. That violation sits alongside food preparation and service, meaning chemicals capable of contaminating food or surfaces were not being handled in a way the state considers safe.
Inspectors also cited staff for demonstrating no allergen awareness. Food allergies affect 32 million Americans, and allergic reactions send roughly 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. A kitchen where staff cannot demonstrate awareness of allergens is a kitchen where a customer with a severe allergy has no reliable protection.
The handwashing violation compounds the picture. Inspectors noted improper hand and arm washing technique, not an absence of handwashing, but technique so flawed that pathogens remain on hands even after a washing attempt. That finding, combined with the absence of an effective person in charge, describes a kitchen operating without the basic controls that prevent cross-contamination.
The remaining high-severity citation noted no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. Customers who are elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, or caring for young children are the population most at risk from undercooked proteins. Without a posted advisory, those customers have no way to make an informed choice about what they order.
The two intermediate violations involved single-use items being reused and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities. Reusing single-use items, whether gloves, cups, foil, or utensils, creates cross-contamination pathways that the items were specifically designed to prevent.
What These Violations Mean
The undercooking violation is the most direct threat to anyone who ate at Prima that day. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A customer who consumed undercooked chicken, for example, would have no way of knowing it, and symptoms of Salmonella infection typically appear 6 to 48 hours after exposure. The violation does not specify which food item or how far below temperature it measured, but the citation itself means inspectors observed food served or prepared without reaching the minimum safe internal temperature.
The toxic substances violation is a different category of risk entirely. Improper storage or identification of chemicals near food preparation areas creates the potential for chemical contamination of food, surfaces, or both. Unlike bacterial illness, chemical contamination can produce immediate symptoms and is not addressed by cooking.
The allergen awareness failure at Prima is notable because it is a training and knowledge violation, not an equipment or temperature problem. It means staff, at the time of inspection, could not demonstrate the baseline understanding of allergens that state standards require. For a customer with a severe tree nut, shellfish, or peanut allergy, that gap in knowledge is the difference between a safe meal and an anaphylactic emergency.
The person-in-charge violation ties the others together. CDC research shows establishments without active managerial control on the floor accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of those with engaged supervision. When no one with authority is actively monitoring food temperatures, handwashing, chemical storage, and allergen protocols, each of those systems degrades independently.
The Longer Record
The May 4 inspection is not an anomaly. State records show Prima has been inspected 28 times and has accumulated 153 total violations across that history. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern in the prior inspection data is consistent. In March 2025, inspectors cited six high-severity violations and one intermediate. In October 2024, two separate inspections on consecutive days each produced five and six high-severity violations respectively. In November 2023, inspectors found six high-severity violations with no intermediate citations at all.
That means Prima has now been cited for six high-severity violations in a single inspection on at least four separate occasions: November 2023, April 2024, March 2025, and now May 2026. The specific violations shift from visit to visit, but the severity level does not.
The October 2025 inspection found five high-severity violations. The December 2025 inspection found two. The May 2026 inspection returned to six. The record does not show a restaurant correcting a problem and holding that correction. It shows a restaurant cycling through serious violations across multiple years.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when inspectors determine that conditions pose an immediate threat to public health. Inspectors visited Prima on May 4, documented six high-severity violations including undercooked food, improperly stored toxic substances, and a kitchen with no demonstrated allergen awareness, and left the restaurant open.
The inspection record now shows 153 violations across 28 inspections and no emergency closures in the facility's history.
Prima remained open after the May 4 inspection.