MIAMI, FL. A state inspector walked into Real Food Academy on NE 81st Street on August 21, 2026, and found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled, a separate citation for toxic substances improperly identified and used, no procedures in place to destroy parasites in fish or pork, and shellfish being served without the identification records needed to trace them if someone got sick. The facility was not closed.
The inspection produced 8 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate violations, a combined 13 citations from a single visit to a school that teaches people how to cook.
What Inspectors Found
The two chemical violations stand out in a facility where students handle food. Inspectors cited both improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and a separate violation for toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Those are not the same citation. That two distinct chemical hazard violations appeared in the same inspection means the problem was not isolated to a single shelf or container.
The parasite destruction citation is direct. When a kitchen serves fish or pork without following proper freezing or cooking protocols to destroy parasites, organisms including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork can survive to the plate. This is not a theoretical risk. It is the reason the protocol exists.
The shellfish citation compounds the picture. Without proper shell stock identification records, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest source if a customer becomes ill. Shellfish are consumed raw or lightly cooked, which means the traceability record is often the only early-warning tool available during an outbreak investigation.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. Cutting boards, prep tables, and similar surfaces that touch food directly are a primary transfer route for bacteria. The inspector also found no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items, meaning customers with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, and the elderly had no notice that what they were eating carried elevated risk.
The facility had no written employee health policy, and inspectors documented improper handwashing technique. Those two violations together describe a kitchen where a sick employee has no formal instruction to stay home, and where even an employee who attempts to wash their hands may not be removing pathogens effectively.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and improper handwashing technique is the most direct disease transmission risk in this inspection. Norovirus spreads person-to-person through exactly this pathway: an infected food handler who does not know they are required to report illness, washing hands in a way that leaves contamination behind, then touching food. Real Food Academy is a teaching kitchen. Students and instructors handle food together in close quarters. That dynamic makes the absence of a health policy more acute, not less.
The sewage and wastewater disposal violation is the most structurally alarming of the intermediate citations. Improper sewage handling introduces fecal contamination risk throughout a facility. Combined with inadequate toilet facilities, the inspection record describes a kitchen where the basic hygiene infrastructure was not functioning correctly on the day of the visit.
Single-use items being reused and multi-use utensils not properly cleaned point to the same underlying failure: surfaces and tools that touched food before were touching food again without adequate cleaning between uses. Bacterial biofilms develop on improperly cleaned utensils within 24 hours and are significantly harder to remove than fresh contamination.
The Longer Record
This was not Real Food Academy's worst stretch. It was the continuation of one. State records show 14 inspections on file for this address, with 92 total violations documented across those visits. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The two inspections immediately preceding this one, conducted on July 7 and July 15, 2025, produced 5 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate violations, then 3 high-severity violations and 1 intermediate violation, respectively. High-severity violations have appeared in every single inspection on record going back to at least August 2020.
The 2021 and 2020 inspections each produced 6 high-severity violations. The 2022 inspection produced 4. There is no inspection in the available history where this facility received a clean or near-clean bill. The August 2026 visit, with 8 high-severity violations, is the highest single-inspection high-severity count in the record.
Still Open
State inspectors documented 8 high-severity violations at Real Food Academy on August 21, 2026, including two separate chemical hazard citations, no parasite destruction procedures, no shellfish traceability records, improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, improper sewage disposal, and no written policy requiring sick employees to stay out of the kitchen.
The facility remained open.
