The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today!
Here’s some disturbing news about the vendors at Denver’s major ballparks: 61 percent of vendors at Invesco Field at Mile High were cited in 2009 for at least one critical or major health violation, as were 62 percent at Coors Field and 67 percent at the Pepsi Center.
That’s according to an ESPN investigation of 107 major sports stadiums and arenas around the nation called “Outside the Lines,” which reviews health-department inspection reports for food and beverage outlets.
At 30 of the venues (28 percent), more than half the concession stands or restaurants have been cited for at least one “critical” or “major” health violation—those that pose a risk of illness or, in rare cases, fatality, to sports fans.
At Coors Field, inspectors found a refrigerator that stored cheese and sour cream above required temperatures, fruit flies were found in bottles of whiskey at Invesco, and “coffin flies” were discovered in a bottle of cognac at the Pepsi Center, notes 9News, which talks with local concessions owners and venue officials.