Food Safety Attorney Ryan Osterholm Interviewed for TV Special Report
Pritzker Olsen attorney Ryan Osterholm shared his expertise and knowledge about foodborne illness in a special news report on CBS Television affiliate WCCO-TV regarding the alarming state of food safety at major league sports stadiums.
You can click here to see the video.
Osterholm was interviewed outside Pritzker Olsen's downtown Minneapolis offices by WCCO news anchor Frank Vascellero in a report about the ESPN investigation of stadium vendors at all 107 major league baseball, basketball, hockey and football arenas in the United States and Canada.
Based on 2009 inspection records, the report found 30 stadiums where more than half of the concession stands or restaurants had been cited for at least one "critical" or "major" health violation. Such violations pose a risk for foodborne illnesses that can result in hospitalization and in extreme cases lead to death.
"That is alarming and quite frankly it shouldn't happen,'' Osterholm said. "It's a simple matter of taking the time and making sure you have clean products.''
The ESPN report found mouse droppings in food stations, slime in ice machines, flies in iced drinks and many reports of undercooked food. When present in meat and other foods, human pathogens such asE. coli O157:H7, Salmonella and Campylobacter can survive temperatures up to 160 degrees, resulting in painful diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever and dehydration.
Said Osterholm about stadium vendors: "They have to turn over a lot of food very quickly and it's often part-time employees who are working there who may not be trained.''
