It looks like Kansas City's Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums may be home to more than just the Royals and the Chiefs.
Concerns raised from Jon Costa, the district food safety manager for Aramark (who runs concessions at the two Kansas City venues) forced the Kansas City Health Department to Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums on Nov. 3, where they found violations at 20 of the stadiums' 26 stands.
According to ESPN's "Outside the Lines," Costa's concerns included, "cockroaches in vending areas, mouse feces on the same tray as pizza dough, sinks where employees were supposed to wash their hands being blocked by boxes or trash, employees eating in food prep areas and trays of food headed for customers that measured at unsafe temperatures."
It looks like Kansas City's Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums may be home to more than just the Royals and the Chiefs.
Concerns raised from Jon Costa, the district food safety manager for Aramark (who runs concessions at the two Kansas City venues) forced the Kansas City Health Department to Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums on Nov. 3, where they found violations at 20 of the stadiums' 26 stands.
According to ESPN's "Outside the Lines," Costa's concerns included, "cockroaches in vending areas, mouse feces on the same tray as pizza dough, sinks where employees were supposed to wash their hands being blocked by boxes or trash, employees eating in food prep areas and trays of food headed for customers that measured at unsafe temperatures."
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Costa documented these matters with photographs and sent them via email to Aramark and Royals officials, after months of trying to get the concerns addressed.
"When we lose control over hygienic practices and we also combine that with poor temperature control -- that could be a catastrophe," said Costa. "That is a recipe for foodborne illness. It's very likely temperatures are abused every game. Every game."
Marc Bruno, chief operating officer of Aramark, said that Costa's photos were "just allegations at this point."
"It's completely contrary to everything that we have done in there," Bruno added. "Food safety is the top priority, No. 1 at Aramark and No. 1 in Kansas City and all our operations."
The health department cited 37 critical violations between the two stadiums, including moldy ice machines, dirty cookware and a load of flies.
The health department's division manager, Naser Jouhari, said that the stadiums' results were "shocking."
"The main concern is [inviting] all these insects and rodents to the concession stands so they [could] contaminate food service, food contact areas," he said.
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Bruno said Aramark has corrected all issues from the Nov. 3 inspections, and indeed, all 20 stands passed re-inspection on Monday.
Aramark has placed Cost paid administrative leave for violating their media policy. The company has contracts with 30 professional sports teams.
