What's In My Dome Dog? Food Woes At Local Stadiums

Somewhere, Marvin Zindler is rolling over in what is no doubt a very lavish coffin. While this article in the Chron todaylooks into the health inspections at sports venues makes no particular mention of slime or its proximity relative to the ice machine, you can be sure that Marvin would've known and would've shouted it from the rooftops. Or at least from somewhere near Dave Ward's elbow.

The stadiums reviewed under the auspices of the city's health code inspectors include Reliant Stadium, Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, and Rice Stadium. Reliant Stadium received the lowest grades of any of the facilities inspected, for violations ranging from inadequate hand-washing stations for food preparers to rodent droppings. Minute Maid faired somewhat better, receiving half the number of violations as Reliant. Toyota Center, whose food services are managed by Levy Restaurants in contrast to Aramark-run Minute Maid and Reliant, got the best grades after inspectors found a series of relatively minor infractions. Rice Stadium also made out well, but inspectors noted that this was probably because no one ever goes to games there.

Now, does this mean that you should forgo the $6 hot dogs and $8 nachos next time you attend a game? That's up to you. Aramark, for their part, released a statement, saying:

We are committed to excellence in our operations and continuously train our managers and employees on proper food handling techniques and food safeblah blah blah blah blah blah blah

The Chron goes out of its way to point out that the situation here is not nearly as bad as at Angels Stadium in Anaheim, where city health inspectors nearly had to shut the place down because rodents were such a problem. Who knew SoCal had such a mouse problem? Anyway, please pay attention to the signs in the bathrooms at the stadiums and wash your hands before eating. May your conscience be your guide otherwise.

Side note: how weird is it that Marvin Zindler is mentioned on UrbanDictionary.com?
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photo by flickr user mrp1001