Concession Stands at KC Professional Sports Stadiums Cited for Food Safety Issues

Health inspectors discovered a number of food safety issues when conducting inspections of the two professional stadiums in Kansas City.  

Concession operations that are used infrequently (at least not every day) need to take into account that they have a flurry of activity for 4 to 6 hours and then are not used for days or weeks afterwards.  Items that are not cleaned will sit around for days, attracting pests such as cockroaches or mice.  Another issue they face is that the people who work there may be temporary workers or even volunteers.  Getting these people up to speed on food safety fundamentals in an hour or so can be a challenge, especially if there is high turnover from event to event and/or there is lack of long term worries by the employee.

These issues can increase the risk that something will not be done correctly including improper clean-up after the event is over, or mishandling food during the event by the less-than-knowledgeable workers.  In the end, this can make the chance of food contamination higher, resulting in consumers contracting foodborne illness or a poor health inspection.  These will lead to bad publicity for the organization, even if that organization had no involvement in making the food.  In this case, the KC Chiefs or Royals.  Further, in light of the high food prices paid at these events,  consumer backlash can be great, and revenue loss even greater (see attached story below).

It is important for any operations that operate temporary food events to have tight controls over handling and clean-up.  Self-inspections during and after the event by facility managers is important in ensuring compliance.


Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article3941505.html
Health inspections find problems at Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium

By MARK DAVIS   The Kansas City Star
11/14/2014 6:29 PM    11/14/2014 9:23 PM

Kansas City health officials were concerned and disappointed by conditions they found at Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums during recent food safety inspections.

Reports itemized 37 critical violations of food safety among 26 concession stands and the main kitchens inside the two parks on Nov. 3, the Monday after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the New York Jets.