Investigation: Food inspections lag at Citizen's Bank Park

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- It's America's favorite pastime, and at Citizen's Bank Park, it's no exception.

Many loyal Phillies fans hit up their favorite food stands while they wait to see their home team hit it out of the park.

But before you head to the ballpark you'll want to check out the health violations Action News found behind the counter at some of the stadium's most popular food stands.

"I think that's disgusting," said Michelle Curley of Atlantic City.

"That doesn't sound good at all," said Weymouth Lewis of Cheltenham.

"That's horrible. That's horrible," said Linn Vaughters of Mount Airy.

Those are fans' reactions to the results of a three-month long Action News investigation.

The results revealed concession stands cited for mice feces, dead insects, bird droppings at a beer stand, a fly in a deep fryer, and pink slime and mold inside ice machines across the stadium.

"That's not good at all! Especially since they look forward to coming down here to eat at the stadium," said May Nissen of Chalfont, Pa.

"After hearing that, I don't know if I'd buy food," said Judi Jewart of Abington.

And beyond what we found in these inspections reports, even more concerning may be what wasn't there.

We reviewed 98 locations in the stadium where Aramark serves food to the public.

While many stands passed inspection, the health department couldn't provide us with any records health inspections had ever been done in advance of our investigation at a total of 28 portable stands.

According to Health Department records, stand 440, formerly the Alley Grill, where Aramark operates Wayback Burger and the Schmitter, had not been inspected in four years since 2011. Furthermore, their records showed five stands had not been inspected for three years, since June of 2012.

"They definitely need to be here more. I go to work every day and do what I need to do. I expect other people to do the same when it's a matter of public safety," said Linn Vaughters of Mount Airy.

When we took our findings to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Bernard Finkel, who is in charge of food protection, said the department tries to have the stadium inspected once a year.

Initially, Finkel told us his inspectors had done their jobs.

"That is our responsibility, to make sure that food establishments are safe in the city of Philadelphia," he said.

When we asked about some of the stands that hadn't been inspected in two to three years, Finkel responded, "You keep saying we haven't been there in two to three years, but I don't know that is a fact."

Finkel said inspectors were out there for a "special event" visit to the ballpark for a Philly Magazine party in 2014.

So we asked him if he considered that visit a ballpark inspection.

"Well, if there wasn't any use of the ballpark facilities ... then, um, no," said Finkel.

And then he backtracked, admitting the health department hadn't conducted regular inspections of the parks concession stands since 2013.

So when we questioned if a two-year lapse was meeting their goal, Finkel responded, "that would not meet our goal, no."

The Public Health Department sent inspectors to the park only after we contacted them about our investigation.

But even after the health department's visit, inspections at eight portable stands were either never conducted or not made available to Action News or the public.

Aramark, the sole operator of concessions, has been responsive in correcting violations; most violations were fixed on the spot.

They also issued the following statement:

"We take food safety very seriously and work closely with the City of Philadelphia Health Department to ensure the food we serve at Citizens Bank Park is safe to eat. In addition, our continuous commitment to food safety includes ongoing training for our managers and employees, employing a full-time, onsite food safety manager and working with a third-party evaluator of quality assurance to bring an added dimension of safety and an increased level of rigor to our operation."

The health department for their part said they only inspect stands that are operating at the time of their visit. Stands that serve prepackaged food are only inspected due to a complaint, and others only require inspections every two years.

As for their overall shortfall?

"Staffing issues, um ... we just, I guess, didn't get there," said Finkel.

The health department tells Action News they are now working with their software provider to come up with a system to alert them when inspections are due. A quick review of the Linc shows some of the stands at the home of the Eagle's haven't been inspected since 2011, 2012 and 2013.

You can review inspection reports for yourself by visiting the following link: http://www.phila.gov/health/foodprotection/FoodSafetyReports.html

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