Local News

Report highlights stadium violations

Posted: 07/28/10 at 4:35 pm EDT

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (WSVN) -- A report has revealed a disturbing discovery at a South Florida sports stadium.

A recent report released by "Outside the Lines," a show on ESPN, found repeated health violations at concession stands and restaurants within stadiums across the country, including Sun Life Stadium. According to ESPN, a food service worker made the following complaint: "The whole stand needs to be properly inspected before hundreds, if not thousands, of fans [are] subjected to the possibility of becoming ill."

According to the report, several small insects were mixed into frozen, alcoholic beverages at a concession stand at Sun Life Stadium. Reportedly, workers at the stand failed to properly clean the equipment used to make the drinks. One resident, Guy Pagan, is not surprised by the report. "If you just walk up and look in there, it doesn't seem like some people are very qualified to be working there. It seems like they hire anybody that comes in," said Pagan.

Chenielle Richardson, a disgruntled consumer, said, "The nacho is stale. The cheese is OK, but for $10? Are you kidding me? I don't think they're really taking pride in the food, and I think they really need to get some good cooks or just get fresh food."

Centerplate, the company that runs concessions at the stadium, released the following statement: "Centerplate takes the topic of food safety and the well-being of our fans seriously and work with the local health department to actively manage safe food service operations. Employees are trained and operations are routinely inspected to ensure that they meet standards for safe operations."

"Let me assure you that the food here is safe at Sun Life Stadium. If it wasn't, we would shut it down, so the food is safe, and we want to make sure that people are aware of that," said Todd Boyan, Senior Vice President of Operations at Sun Life Stadium.

The AmericanAirlines Arena was also mentioned in the ESPN report but received only safety violations related to electrical equipment. The arena also issued a statement: "At AmericanAirlines Arena, food safety is a top priority. None of the violations mentioned in ESPN's 'Outside the Lines' story were related to issues with the food and beverages we serve at AmericanAirlines Arena. We have received equipment-related violations, but they were repaired immediately."

(Copyright 2010 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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