What's Lurking in Your Stadium Food?

old in ice machines at six stands at Miller Park in Milwaukee. A cockroach crawling over a soda dispenser in a private club at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. Food service workers repeatedly ignoring orders to wash their hands at a stand at Detroit's Ford Field.

Sports fans don't always see such health threats when ordering a $5 hot dog and $6 beer at a professional sports stadium or arena. But the violations catch the eyes of inspectors who poke, prod and probe stadium kitchens that dish out a range of foods from burgers to sushi, for tens of millions of fans who eat at major professional sports venues from coast to coast each year.

ESPN's "Outside the Lines" reviewed health department inspection reports for food and beverage outlets at all 107 North American arenas and stadiums that were home to Major League Baseball, National Football League, National Hockey League and National Basketball Association teams in 2009. At 30 of the venues (28 percent), more than half of the concession stands or restaurants had been cited for at least one "critical" or "major" health violation. Such violations pose a risk for foodborne illnesses that can make someone sick, or, in extreme cases, become fatal.

snip

Even when standards are similar, inspectors vary in how they scrutinize and define violations, said Dexter King, president of the International Association of Assembly Managers. "Different inspectors interpret different violations almost as a referee would look at, 'Should I call this a foul or not a foul?'" he said.

link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100725/stadiumconcessions

They even have an interactive map to check the vendor inspection reports

Wrigley Field just gets better and better. :rofl:

stadium is empty and nobody's preparing food.

If you want to go to a real baseball stadium go 8 miles south to the Cell.

:rofl:

It has been what a 103 years since the last one for the Cubbies? :rofl:

Take it easy on the Chicago Flub fans, any team can have a bad century or two, maybe even three in a row!

:banghead:

Oh by the way; if you looked at the chewing gum palace with the weeds on the walls it would seem that they would need to count the pigeons in the bleachers to get up to 30, they are no longer the yuppie darling team.

Because the baseball is for shit.

A guy goes out and takes his chances.

Even really, really expensive restaurants have problems. If it worries you that much, cook your own food, I think.

had a surprise inspection one time (they are not required to give a warning) and closed the place down at lunch time. The inspector asked patrons to pay their checks and leave immediately. Guy never opened up again yet people were raving about his food. You just never know...

Since I don't attend games in the states.

I just found it interesting (and informative) that many stadiums have large numbers of violations.

If I wanted to cause a stir, I'd have pointed out the parts of the story where bugs in the ice machine and ended up in the drinks. Or the cockroaches on the hot dogs, etc

from the ballpark food, though. I've eaten a bunch of it, with no ill effects, and I'll eat some more next time I attend a game.

Every time you eat food prepared by unknown people in a kitchen you haven't inspected yourself, there's a certain risk. Most of us just shrug and enjoy our meal. You have to eat your quota of insects before you die. It's a rule.

:shrug:

Ugh.

Just about every bit of food you eat is subject to the same problems. If you don't grow it yourself youhave no clue.

If you do grow it yourself, you still have no clue about environmental toxins present before you broke virgin ground and smelled that good earth. It's all poisoned. Every land and every water.

Eat it and shut up. :)

care of this stuff.

This article is a good thing for chronically ill people. But, for most of us, we survive the ball games with nothing more than a hangover.

Remove the remaining regulations.

VOILA! No more problems.

i almost spat out my drink
That was too damned funny

:toast:

Although, it really is sad.... if the RW gets its way, there WILL be no more regulations.

"Everyone for themselves!"

:puke:

:eyes:

Not in a million years....

The Washington Wizards don't leave any room for uncertainty, with 100% of vendors in violation. FL stadiums seem to be a dump as well. Maybe I'd buy a sealed bottle of drink at those places after inspecting the expiration date.

Watch out Marlins and Dolphins fans:
In June 2009, an employee complained anonymously that small insects and other debris were blended into frozen alcoholic beverages at a stand where equipment wasn't being cleaned. When inspectors checked, they issued a critical violation for a buildup of slime inside the frozen drinks machine.
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Any entomologists here? I want to know what bug or bugs are referred to as slime.

It's kind of ironic in and of itself.

to join its fallen bretheren.

Roaches almost seem healthy.

mikey_the_rat

The alcohol will kill all the icky goop.

would come around just before each game and then randomly during games. She took the temperatures of everything that was supposed to be hot and made sure everybody handling food was wearing gloves, aprons, hairnets, etc.

The flipside of that is that the way their stands are designed, and probably most other stadiums... was that the appliances and drink machines were pretty much an outdoor space. We cleaned the place before and after each game, but between the games it was exposed to the same elements and creepy crawlies the rest of the stadium was.

We pay dearly for this stadium food. We deserve better

Jeez, I got a few problems with my dad, but FUCK!

that you would expect from eating any food prepared outdoors. I'm not saying that any of this is pleasant, but only the truly ignorant germ-a-phobes would be totally disgusted by all of this.