SEMINOLE, FL. State inspectors walked into Sushi and Soy on Park Boulevard on September 21, 2026, and found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers being served at a restaurant where employees were not required to report illness symptoms, where food contact surfaces were not properly sanitized, and where toxic chemicals were improperly stored near food. They documented eight high-severity violations and three intermediate ones. Then they left the restaurant open.
What Inspectors Found
The food sourcing violation is the one with the longest reach. When a restaurant cannot document where its food came from, there is no traceability if a customer gets sick, no way to identify a contaminated lot, and no USDA or FDA inspection standing between the supplier and the plate.
At a sushi restaurant, that matters in a specific way. Raw fish served without a verified supply chain cannot be confirmed as parasite-free or Listeria-tested. Inspectors also cited inadequate shellfish identification records, a separate but related failure: shellfish like oysters and clams are consumed raw or barely cooked, and without harvest tags and dealer records, a contaminated batch cannot be traced back to its source.
The toxic chemicals violation adds a different category of risk. Chemicals stored improperly near food preparation areas can contaminate surfaces, utensils, and food directly, through mislabeling or accidental use. The same surfaces those chemicals may have reached were also cited as not properly cleaned or sanitized.
What These Violations Mean
The employee illness reporting violation is the one most likely to produce a multi-victim outbreak. When food workers are not required, or not trained, to report symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea before their shifts, they handle food while actively shedding norovirus or other pathogens. A single symptomatic employee preparing sushi rolls can contaminate dozens of orders. The violation at Sushi and Soy was not that an ill employee was caught working. It was that the system requiring them to report was absent.
The handwashing technique violation compounds that risk. Inspectors do not cite this violation when an employee skips washing entirely; they cite it when the washing attempt itself is performed incorrectly, leaving pathogens on hands that workers believe are clean. Those hands then touch food, surfaces, and utensils.
The no consumer advisory violation is the one that affects the most vulnerable diners directly. Sushi menus routinely include raw fish, raw shellfish, and undercooked preparations. Federal guidance requires restaurants serving these items to post a written notice that consuming raw or undercooked foods increases the risk of foodborne illness, specifically for elderly customers, pregnant women, young children, and people with compromised immune systems. Without that advisory, those customers cannot make an informed choice.
The undercooking violation adds a layer that is less obvious at a sushi restaurant. Not every item on the menu is served raw. Cooked proteins that do not reach required minimum internal temperatures, particularly poultry at 165 degrees Fahrenheit, can carry live Salmonella to the table.
The Longer Record
Sushi and Soy: Inspection History
The September 2026 inspection was not a bad week. It was the continuation of a pattern that state records show running back at least three years.
Across 12 inspections on record, Sushi and Soy has accumulated 208 total violations. Six of the eight most recent inspections documented six or more high-severity violations each. The January 2025 inspection produced nine high-severity findings, the highest single-visit count in the available record. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
In July 2023, inspectors returned on consecutive days, July 10 and July 11, documenting seven high-severity violations on the first visit and five on the second. That two-day sequence suggests a follow-up inspection found the facility still out of compliance 24 hours later.
The February 2026 inspection produced an identical violation profile to September's: eight high-severity, three intermediate. Seven months later, the count was the same.
Still Open
State inspectors documented eight high-severity violations at Sushi and Soy on September 21, 2026, including food from an unverified source, no system for employees to report illness, improperly stored toxic chemicals, and food not cooked to required temperatures. The restaurant serves raw fish and shellfish without a consumer advisory telling vulnerable customers what they are eating.
The facility has no emergency closures in 12 inspections and 208 violations.
It was open when inspectors arrived that morning. It was open when they left.
