PEMBROKE PINES, FL. Back in January 2026, a state inspector visiting the Sushi Maki counter at Whole Foods in Pembroke Pines found packaged sushi rolls with internal temperatures between 43 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit sitting in the consumer self-service display case. The rolls had been made around 9 a.m. and had not been cooled to 41 degrees or below before being put out for shoppers to grab off the shelf.
That single finding, a temperature control failure on ready-to-eat food at a self-service case, was one of three priority violations documented during the January 26 inspection.
What Inspectors Found
The temperature violation was corrected during the inspection. An inspector noted the packaged rolls were removed from the display and placed inside a blast chiller to bring them down to 41 degrees or below.
The raw-over-cooked storage problem was also addressed on site. According to the inspection record, raw sushi rolls had been displayed above cooked California rolls in the retail case. Inspectors had the items removed and properly stored before leaving.
A third priority violation involved hand hygiene. An employee in the sushi area was observed putting on gloves to handle exposed food without first washing their hands. The inspector noted the employee removed the gloves, washed their hands properly, and then resumed work.
The HACCP Problem
The violation that was not corrected on site involved the facility's HACCP plan, the written food safety protocol that sushi operations using acidified rice are required to follow precisely.
The inspector found that the person in charge was not measuring rice pH using the method specified in the plan. Instead of using a plastic bag for the mixture as the plan required, a bowl was being used. The rice pH log and the pH meter log had not been completed daily, and the person in charge had not been verifying them weekly as required.
That violation carries a different weight than a missing paper towel. The HACCP plan for acidified rice exists specifically to control the growth of pathogens in a food that sits at room temperature during service. Deviation from the approved process, even in the measurement method, means the safety record is incomplete and unverifiable.
Three additional violations, classified as priority foundation, were also documented. Employees had not been informed in a verifiable manner to report symptoms or a diagnosis of foodborne illness to the person in charge. The hand sink in the sushi area was missing disposable paper towels, which was corrected during the inspection. And the establishment had no written procedures for cleaning up vomit or diarrheal events.
What These Violations Mean
The cooling failure is the most direct public health concern documented in this inspection. Sushi rice and fish are both time/temperature control for safety foods, meaning bacterial growth accelerates quickly when they sit above 41 degrees. Rolls measured at 43 to 45 degrees in a self-service case, available for any shopper to pick up, represent food that had not met the safety threshold before being placed on display. The state standard requires food prepared from ambient-temperature ingredients to reach 41 degrees within four hours.
The raw-over-cooked display problem is a cross-contamination risk. Raw fish carries pathogens that are destroyed by cooking. When raw product is stored or displayed above cooked, ready-to-eat food, any drip or contact can transfer those pathogens onto food a customer will eat without any further heat treatment.
The HACCP deviation matters because acidified rice, used in virtually all sushi preparations, is one of the few ways a food establishment is permitted to hold rice at room temperature for extended periods. The pH of the rice must fall within a specific range to inhibit bacterial growth. If the measurement process deviates from the approved plan, and the logs are not being kept, there is no documented evidence the rice was actually safe during service on any given day.
The illness reporting gap closes a critical early-warning loop. When employees are not formally told, in a way that can be verified, that they must report symptoms of foodborne illness, a sick employee can work a full shift handling food with no one the wiser.
The Longer Record
The January 26 inspection was not the first time this location had accumulated violations. A September 2025 inspection found nine violations, the only other sanitation inspection in the facility's recent record to document any. The six focused inspections conducted between August 2024 and March 2026 all returned zero violations.
The facility has eight prior FDACS inspections on record. The pattern suggests a location that generally performs well on focused checks but has twice now generated a meaningful violation count during full sanitation inspections.
None of the six violations cited in January were marked as repeats from prior inspections. That means, on paper, each finding was a first-time citation rather than a documented pattern of the same failure recurring.
The HACCP log violation, however, raises a question the record alone cannot answer. A log that has not been completed daily is, by definition, a gap that may extend back further than a single inspection day. The inspector found the logs incomplete. How long they had been incomplete was not specified in the inspection record.