Sports stadium food moldy, expired, infested with vermin feces

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: sports stadiums, fast food, health code

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(NaturalNews) Expired pizza dough. Moldy hot dogs. Rat droppings near food. These and other disgusting health violations are surprisingly more prevalent than you might think at some professional sports stadiums, alleges one district safety manager for a major food distributor. And little is being done, he says, to address the problem and keep sports fans safe.

Outraged by the level of filth he observed at sports stadiums after being hired on with Aramark's Sports and Entertainment division, Jonathan Costa began to collect photo documentation of what he says are major and ongoing health code violations taking place at the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium and the Royals' Kauffman Stadium, both in Kansas City, Missouri.

District safety manager unsuccessful in getting Aramark to take action

After repeatedly trying, without success, to get Aramark's corporate heads to take action, Costa finally went to the media to tell all about what stadium patrons are being exposed to when they visit food and beverage concession stands. Images of rodent feces next to pizza dough lumps were aired on ESPN along with pictures of mold-speckled hot dogs and contaminated ice bins.

Costa also captured imagery of roach "parties" in vending areas, as well as angry employees "flipping the bird" over being caught in the act of serving potentially tainted food. During major games like the World Series, Costa says he witnessed employee hand-washing sinks cluttered with so many boxes, crates, and piles of trash that it would have been impossible for workers to maintain even minimal hygiene standards.

"When we lose control over hygienic practices, and we also combine that with poor temperature control, that could be a catastrophe," stated Costa to ESPN. "That is a recipe for food-borne illness."

Aramark denies allegations; food department official says filth was 'shocking'

When questioned about the allegations, Aramark Chief Operating Officer Mark Bruno stated that his company took immediate action to address the violations once they were brought to his attention, and that Costa's claims aren't entirely valid.

But an official from the Kansas City Health Department, where Costa used to work, confirmed much of what Costa has claimed concerning a lack of cleanliness at the stadiums. When he personally visited the two stadiums, Naser Jouhari says he observed bins with food residue, and in some cases even leftover food, piled up in kitchens long after games had already ended.

"It was shocking," stated Jouhari to ESPN. "We never thought at the stadium that we should go back after the game to check on the cleanliness, to check to make sure that they discarded the food items that are still out there."

"I was told after the game that [workers] just flipped the switch off and they walked out. All this food, all this exposed food, it's an open invitation to all insects and rodents in the area."

This is bad news for sports patrons, who are typically prohibited from bringing their own food and beverages into games. If you want to go watch a professional football or baseball game, you really don't have much a choice other than pizza, hot dogs, and beer served by the stadiums, which may or may not be safe.

"I think it says, 'Hey, we can sell any substandard food that we want,'" commented Costa about the alleged lack of action by Aramark. "What else are they going to do? How far are they going to go?"

Sources for this article include:

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11874242

http://www.foodbeast.com

http://sports.yahoo.com