Stadium Food Is Covered In Sweat, According To ESPN Study
Yankee Stadium is a haven of luxury advertising and big money. If a baseball park married a high-end shopping mall, Yankee Stadium would be the spoiled-rich offspring. But at 79.1 percent of the stalls, bars, and other outlets serving food during games, at least one high-level violation of food safety standards was committed over a two year period. And Yankee Stadium isn't even the worst sports venue for food safety in America, according to a new analysis from ESPN's Outside the Lines of health inspection reports at 111 sports venues throughout the United States.
Examining four professional leagues-the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL-and 16,000 reports filed in 2016 and 2017, ESPN's analysis showed that venues are gross as shit. After combing through food safety inspection reports made over the two-year period, ESPN found that at 28 percent of sports venues in the country, at least half the food stalls had high-level violations. Food safety violations can spread food-borne illnesses.
High-level violations included, per the report:
Chicken, shrimp and sushi festering at dangerous temperatures that can breed bacteria; employees wiping their faces with their hands and then handling food for customers; cooks sweating over food; beef blood dripping on a shelf; moldy or expired food; dirty utensils or contaminated equipment; and the presence of live cockroaches and mice. Less serious but still icky: dirty floors, fruit flies, pesky pigeons and, in one venue, beer leaking from a ceiling.
Festering shrimp. Sweaty food. Beef blood. We might never enjoy a ballpark hot dog again.
Yankee Stadium was the worst offender in the MLB in terms of number of outlets within the venue with one or more high-level violation. Spectrum Center, where the Charlotte Hornets play, was the worst NBA arena. Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers, was the worst NFL stadium. For the NHL, American Airlines Center, where the Dallas Stars (and the Mavericks) play, was the worst.
ESPN's report also compared sports venues with restaurants in the surrounding area, finding that only nine sports arenas had on average a higher rate of high-level violations than places in the community. Yankee Stadium, for example, was slapped with fewer high-level violations on average than food establishments in New York City. In other words, everywhere you eat is gross. Stick to making sandwiches at home.
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