WIMAUMA, FL. Toxic substances were improperly identified, stored, or used inside a Wimauma Subway in September 2026, one of six high-severity violations state inspectors documented at the sandwich shop on State Road 674, a location that stayed open throughout.
The September 18 inspection of Subway 36340 on State Road 674 turned up no intermediate violations and no basic violations alongside the six high-severity citations. Every single violation the inspector recorded that day carried the state's most serious risk designation.
What Inspectors Found
Beyond the chemical storage failure, inspectors cited the restaurant for having no written employee health policy, or an inadequate one. That citation sat alongside a finding that food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, a direct route for bacteria to move from equipment to food to customer.
Inspectors also documented that parasite destruction procedures were not being followed, and that the restaurant had no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked food items. The sixth violation involved inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning shellfish served at the location could not be traced to its origin.
The restaurant was not emergency-closed.
What These Violations Mean
The toxic substance violation is the most immediate physical danger on the list. Cleaning chemicals stored near or above food, or improperly labeled containers, can contaminate food directly. A customer would have no way of knowing, and no symptom would appear until after they had already eaten.
The absence of a written employee health policy is a quieter but persistent risk. Without a formal policy requiring sick workers to stay home, a single employee with Norovirus can expose every customer served during a shift. Norovirus accounts for roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, and food workers are one of the primary transmission routes.
Improperly sanitized food contact surfaces, such as cutting boards and prep tables, are where bacterial transfer happens invisibly. A surface that looks clean but was not sanitized correctly can carry Salmonella or E. coli from one food item to the next.
The parasite destruction citation is notable in a Subway context. Proper freezing or cooking protocols are required to kill parasites including Anisakis in fish and Trichinella in pork. Without documentation that those protocols are being followed, there is no way to verify the food was safe before it was served. The missing consumer advisory compounds that problem: customers who are elderly, pregnant, or immunocompromised cannot make an informed choice about what they are eating if the menu does not tell them certain items carry elevated risk.
The Longer Record
The September 2026 inspection was the thirteenth on record for this location. Across those 13 visits, inspectors have documented 47 total violations. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
The pattern is not new. In July 2025, inspectors found seven high-severity violations and two intermediate violations at the same address, the worst single-inspection tally before September 2026. Before that, the October 2024 inspection turned up two high-severity and two intermediate violations. The August 2023 visit produced three high-severity and three intermediate citations.
Two inspections, in October 2023 and January 2022, resulted in zero high-severity violations. Those cleaner visits make the surrounding record harder to explain away as a string of bad luck. The location has demonstrated it can pass an inspection. It has also demonstrated that high-severity violations return.
The six-violation September 2026 inspection is the location's worst on record by high-severity count, edging past the seven-violation July 2025 visit only because that inspection also included intermediate violations. Strip out the intermediate tier and September 2026 stands alone.
Open for Business
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when violations pose an immediate threat to public health. After finding six high-severity violations at this location on September 18, they did not exercise that authority.
The restaurant on State Road 674 in Wimauma served customers that day, and the days after.
Forty-seven violations across thirteen inspections. No emergency closures. Six high-severity citations on the most recent visit, including improperly stored toxic substances and no written policy to keep sick workers out of the kitchen. The Subway on State Road 674 remained open.
