Minnesota Stadiums Do Not Fare Well In Food Safety Study
ESPN recently released a report reviewing health inspection reports for 111 North American sports venues. The four major Minnesota venues (US Bank Stadium, Target Field, Xcel Energy Center and Target Center) all fared poorly in the report.
US Bank Stadium received the most violations of the four Minnesota venues, with 59% of their violations considered "high-level." Of the 195 locations inspected, 116 reported high-level violations. Of the 111 venues, US Bank Stadium was ranked 90th.
Lack of handwashing, food being kept too warm and bare hands being used were cited as areas of opportunity.
Target Field checks in at 79th on the list, with 50% high-level violations. 57 of Target Field's 113 inspected outlets were reported to have high level violations.
Target Field's violations included failure to ensure insects, rodents and pests were controlled properly, food temperature issues and handwashing violations.
Target Center was 72nd on the list, with 27 of 56 inspected areas reporting high-level violations. Sick employees, improper food temperatures and failure to control rodents and pests were all noted.
Xcel Energy Center also fell in the bottom half of the study, 34 of 79 inspected areas reporting high-level violations. The violations included mouse droppings, food cooked too cold and employees eating food without washing hands.
Oracle Arena in Oakland, California was the cleanest arena studied, with just one violation found in 89 areas.