The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/20130/otl-safer-to-digest-in-nfc-west

The 49ers will devour all non-divisional opponents this year, from the cupcake squads to the beef jerky teams.

Holy crap.... how can DolphinSun Life Stadium have 93% of vendors get critical violations? That's just insane.

I think it was more like 93% of the violations were of the critical classification, rather than 93% of vendors.

No, it very clearly wasn't. 93% of vendors had critical violations.

I don't know, I guess but it depends on the alternative...

"...ranks NFL stadiums by percentage of stadium food vendors suffering "critical violations" in recent inspections."

...as opposed to minor violations

or

...as opposed to no violations at all

either way, I won't eat at that stadium again.

Report for all pro stadiums:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/n...ory?id=5401646

Busch was 12% and Scottrade Center was 0.  Since I rarely go to the Ed, I'm in pretty good shape.

I woudn't. 

But then again I rarely buy food at a stadium anyway.  Stuff yourself like a pig during the tailgate before hand and you can survive three hours on a granalo bar in your pocket, until ya get back to the car and fire up the grill and wait for the parking lot to empty out. 

At least that is always my game plan. 

I've been reading articles about this for a couple days so I didn't look at this one. One thing to consider are that each state has different laws concerning this. While this is no excuse for the poor showing at Sun Life stadium, Florida law requires the inspections while the venue is open to the public. Some stadiums outside FL were apparently inspected while they were closed.

I always eat dinner at the game, when I got for baseball.  For football, I often use Hoodie's strategy, but no one tailgates for baseball here.  I typically make the conscious decision to eat at the stadium, out of convenience and time. 

Not anymore.

Differences in state inspection certainly can be a significant part in the varience.  What one state might consider a serious violation another might only consider to be a minor one.  Still a 93% fail rate is really bad.

I agree completely Hoodie. They should be embarrassed. I don't think I have purchased anything from the concessions at Sun Life other than beverages. We always tailgated first. I have eaten in other venues though (always for other sports).

On the bright side, I expect Sun Life might be one of the better venues this coming season for food safety due to this publicity. If not, they should really be ashamed of themselves.

Baseball I bring a picnic and eat at the stadium.

BTW you can bring food into almost any stadium.  Most have a huge sign saying no outside food, but in the small print it will say "except for religious reasons or people with food allergies or health concerns.

Rarely have I even been asked why I have the food. But the few times I have, my response is always "for religious reasons I can't buy the food at the stadium."  They have never asked me to elaborate.  BTW it is true, I consider paying their outrageous prices to be a sin.  

Just don't use the excuse my friend used, she claimed she had a food allergy to nuts.  She was smuggling in a PB&J sandwich.  But they still let her bring it in.  We had a good laugh over that.    

I got this letter in my email today:

As you may have seen this week, there have been reports in the media about the food safety at Sun Life Stadium. Let me assure you that these reports have been misleading and inaccurate.

Click here (http://www.sunlifestadium.com/Content/Centerplate_7_30.pdf) to find an open letter to fans from Centerplate, Sun Life Stadium's concessionaire, which speaks to their strong track record of compliance and reaffirms their ongoing commitment to the safety and wellbeing of each fan that enters the stadium.

The food you have enjoyed at Sun Life Stadium is safe. In fact, Centerplate has never been fined or even failed an inspection during their tenure as concessionaire at our facility. If there was ever a concern, Centerplate or the Stadium would automatically and immediately shut down the food stand in question.

The vast majority of issues for which the Stadium was given notice included infractions such as the use of unlabeled cleanser bottles, un-mounted fire-extinguishers and sinks without paper towels. While these did not affect the safety of food preparation, we are committed to making sure that even these minor infractions do not recur.

What the inflammatory coverage failed to mention is that the Sun Life Stadium has met every single inspection standard during every site visit. The reports, which stemmed from an ESPN report focused on stadium food nationwide, were absolutely misleading and in no way reflect our commitment to and history of providing our fans or visitors with food that is safe, clean and appetizing.

As a season ticket member, you represent our most loyal fans and the core of the Dolphins family. Our commitment to your health and safety at Sun Life Stadium is uncompromising. Over the past several years, we have elicited feedback about your entire fan experience through postgame surveys. These surveys are reviewed weekly and action is taken immediately to improve your experience. We encourage you to continue to give us your suggestions and allow us to constantly improve your comfort and enjoyment at Sun Life Stadium.

Thank you for taking the time to understand these reports. We look forward to seeing you at our first preseason game on August 14 and throughout what will be an exciting 2010 Dolphins season.

Sincerely,

Mike Dee
Miami Dolphins CEO

This story is clearly overblown.

I looked up a few of the specific inspection reports from Sun Life Stadium using the links from ESPN and the three I found with critical violations were all due to NO HOT WATER for the employees to wash their hands in (one report stated it had been turned off centrally or something).

Critical violations don't result in fines or failing inspections. One might reasonably ask why they're called "critical" then, but that's the way it is.

That was actually the case for most of the stadiums.  "Critical" seems to mean...."we would like you to fix it" and is the most minor violations as opposed to failed inspection and we are shutting you down.  Kinda like at the movies where they have only two sizes of soda...Extra large and  Gigantic.  Extra large is in fact the smallest.  Critical is the smallest.  But keep in mind that is true elsewhere, where there were considerably less of these minor issues.  And I don't know about you but I would like the employees preparing my food to wash their hands first.

I agree.  Tailgating is the way to go.  You can always bring what you like and won't have to blow your entire week's pay on it.