The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, November 11, 2010 - 5A

HEALTH CODE
From Page 1A
vicer's nightmare."
At Ford Field, home of the
Detroit Lions, the stadium is also
under county jurisdiction.
Eva Yusa, director of communi-
cations at Levy Restaurants - the
company that runs concessions at
Ford Field - wrote in an e-mail
interview that Ford Field vendors
appreciate the sporadic inspec-
tions.
Training and certification for
University health inspectors is
the same as the process for Washt-
enaw County inspectors, and the
University health code is the stan-
dard health code throughout the
state of Michigan. Rather than
issuing a letter or number grade
for inspections, inspectors deem
violations as critical or non-crit-
ical.
David Peters, OSEH repre-
sentative and stadium health
inspector, said practices that can
contaminate food and cause ill-
ness are considered critical viola-
tions. Practices that do not cause
disease or illness are non-critical.
According to 2009 OSEH
reports, Michigan Stadium
received eight violations during
last football season but only three
were critical:
EMPLOYEES DRINKING
FROM UNCOVERED
BEVERAGE CONTAINERS
Stadium employees drinking
from beverage containers are
required to do so with a lid and a
straw. Employees found drinking
from open containers are correct-
ed on site, and the stand is issued
a critical violation.
Peters said uncovered contain-
ers offer an opportunity for the
contamination of food.
"If (employees) go to handle
food, they can potentially con-
taminate it with something that
came out of their mouth, like a
germ or saliva," Peters said..
Jennifer Nord, OSEH repre-
sentative and a Michigan Stadium
health inspector, is present at
every game to ensure employees
are complying with regulations.
Nord said just seeing an open cup
would be a reason to hand out a
violation.

is "still not universally followed."
The report states that the policy
should be better implemented the
following season.
Peters said that since the
report, a more stringent policy
regarding hair restraints has been
put in place, and the issue has not
been a problem this season.
GRILL SANITIZER STRIPS IN
NEED OF REPLACEMENT
Grill stands are required to
have sanitizing strips that mea-
sure the concentration of ammo-
nia in the sanitizer, Last October,
the chemical strips of two grills
got wet and were no longer able to
determine ammonia concentra-
tion, and the concession stands
were cited with non-critical vio-
lations.
In order to correct the issue,
new test strips were affixed to the
grills that same day.
According to University offi-
cials, minor equipment issues like
this are fixed as quickly as pos-
sible.
EMPLOYEES SERVING ICE
WITHOUT GLOVES
Employees are required to
serve ice while wearing gloves
in order to avoid contamination.
Employees found serving ice
without gloves are cited with a
critical violation.
During the first three football
games last season, employees
were found serving ice while not
wearing gloves, according to the
2009 OSEH report.
These employees were provid-
ed with gloves by inspectors at the
time of inspection.
Chris Waldrop, director of the
Food Policy institute at the Con-
sumer Federation of
America, said food safety vio-
lations often occur during times
when employees are quickly serv-
ing spectators who want to return
to the athletic event - such as at
halftime and the moments before
a game starts.
"Employees are rushing to
serve lots of people in a short
amount of time, and they have less
time to address good food safety
practices," Waldrop said.
According to Peters, employees
have not been reprimanded for
not wearing gloves this season.

In October, one stand's employ-
ees brought in portable light fix-
tures for more lighting, and they
were cited with a non-critical vio-
lation.
To fix the problem, fluorescent
light fixtures were installed to
provide more light to workers and
the temporary light fixtures were
removed.
The second violation during the
stadium's construction involved
ice bins, which are required to be
cleaned in between home games.
On a few occasions, items like
soda bottles were stored in ice
bins during construction, and the
bins were not cleaned.
V/Gladieux Enterprises, Inc. -
the company in charge of stadium
concessions at the time - was
informed of the error and received
a critical violation. In response, a
new policy was put into place to
ensure ice bins were sanitized for
the remainder of the season.
According to Peters, neither of
these issues has caused repeated
violations this season, largely
because the construction has
ended.
HAND WASHING SIGNS
MISSING
Hand washing signs were not
present at two grill stands last
season. OSEH inspectors noticed
the health code infraction and
cited the concession stands with
non-critical violations.
To solve the issue, signs were
mounted above the sinks at both
stands before the next home
game.
According to Peters, the issue
has been resolved and hasn't been
repeated this season.
HOT WATER INSULATION
LINE SOILED
Papers used for hot water insu-
lation were found soiled with hot
chocolate powder last season and
were unable to be cleaned. As a
result, the concession stand was
given a non-critical violation.
While the violation was issued
last year, Peters wrote that the
problem still hasn't been fixed.
"The stadium maintenance
staff would ultimately need to
make this correction as opposed
to the concessionaire them-
selves," he wrote. "We would like
the paper insulation pipe wrap
replaced with PVC (plastic) pipe
wrap so that it can be easily wet
cleaned when hot chocolate pow-
der residues accumulate on it."
DESPITE VIOLATIONS,
CITATIONS HAVE BEEN
MINOR
As a result of the completion
of the renovations in August,
the stadium now features big-
ger kitchens, walk-in freezers,
food carving stations and private

suites.
In the past, only four types of
protein were offered to custom-
ers - hot dogs, chicken breasts,
hamburgers and bratwurst.
Now, nearly 15 types of proteins
are offered, according to health
inspectors.
"It's not just hot dogs any-
more," said Pam RKoczman, OSEH
manager and health inspection
supervisor.
While fans enjoy the wider
selection of food, Peters said the
variety requires more inspections
of the stands.
Koczman added that additions
to the stadium means a larger
number of health inspectors need
to be present at games.
While two inspectors - Peters
and Nord - were present at each
home game last season, at the
start of the season, there were
four inspectors present at the
stadium each game. Later in the
season the number was reduced
to three.
In addition to changes to the
venue, concessionaire manage-
ment has switched from V/Gla-
dieux Enterprises to the Sodexo
group - an international food
services and facilities manage-
ment group based in Gaihers-
berg, Md.
Nord said Sodexo imposes
stronger regulations to catch vio-
lations preemptively. Nord cited
increased use of temperature logs
- which document food tempera-
tures - and more frequent clean-
ing of counters as examples of the
company' s rigorous policy.
She said Sodexo does not allow
employees to use drinking cups
outside designated areas because
it eliminates the possibility of
receiving critical violations for
uncovered cups. This effort also
helps to maintain the stadium's
initiative to be "green" by elimi-
nating the need for plastic lids
and straws.
Nord said inspectors don't
know how this year's violations
will compare to those of previous
years because new service prac-
tices are still being put in place.
"It's a whole different ball
game," she said.
But University health inspec-
tors say the secret to the success
of the stadium health practices
is emphasizing education about
good health.
Designated stadium employees
participate in food safety training
before University stadiums open
for games. These leaders attend
annual training sessions and are
expected to educate their workers
- often volunteer groups - about
health policies.
"It's about teaching the profes-
sional food service staff, finding
what's wrong and correcting it,"
she said." It's not about delivering
a letter grade, which we believe
takes away from the education
component."

EMPLOYEES NOT WEARING IMPROPER LIGHTING AND
HAIR RESTRAINTS UNCLEAN ICE BINS

All Michigan Stadium employ-
ees are required to wear hats,
bandanas or other forms of hair
restraints while preparing and
serving food. Employees who
don't abide by the policy receive a
non-critical violation.
An OSEH report last October
stated that the majority of con-
cession stand employees wear
hair restraints, but the practice

Michigan Stadium underwent
construction last season, which in
part caused two health code viola-
tions.
Because the press box and cor-
porate suites were being built
above concession stands located
at the West side of the stadium,
workers did not receive adequate
natural daylight while preparing
and serving food.


FOUR LOKO
From Page 1A
ty's Alcohol Policy and Community
Initiatives Program administra-
tor, said she feels alcoholic energy
drinks pose a significant danger
to students on campus. She added
that the effect of the mixture of
caffeine and alcohol can make it
difficult for consumers to deter-
mine their levels of intoxication.
"I think it removes one of the
tools that people use to gauge
when they've had enough, because
it sends the brain that mixed mes-
sage," Desprez said.
She said based on student anec-
dotes with the drink, she believes
that students will understand the
reasons underlying the ban.
"Most of them have said, 'I've
tried it and I wouldn't try it again'
or I think for most people they
see the harm that has happened
to their friends," said Desprez.
"They're actually seeing what's
going on, and that actually has
been more powerful than anything
else."
In a statement issued by Phusion
Projects - manufacturer of Four
Loko - the company expressed its
intent to "pursue all legal options
and vigorously challenge the
Commission's action as procedur-
ally and substantively deficient
well before the ban would go into
effect."
Phusion Projects criticized what
it called the commission's "precipi-
tous and ill-conceived"vote, which
was made by three of the five com-
missioners. The manufacturer
added that the ban will be detri-
mental to many businesses in the

state.
Martin said should the ban be
challenged, the final verdict will
likely depend on the United States
Food and Drug Administration's
analysis.
"If they revisit the ban ... then
the commission can also look to
its labeling rules and possibly
force the manufacturers to change
their packaging and labeling of the
product," she said.
Phusion Projects stated that the
amount of alcohol present in Four
Loko is comparable to that of some
beers and wines and that the caf-
feine content is similar to that of
a tall Starbucks coffee. The state-
ment also addressed Four Loko's
label, saying all "products fea-
ture prominent labels that clearly
show that the beverages contain
alcohol and can only be sold to
adults of legal drinking age."
The statement added that the
labeling of Four Loko is no dif-
ferent from that applied to hard
liquor containers, saying that
"even alcoholic beverages with-
out caffeine come in flavors and
brightly colored cans. Today
bubble gum, raspberry and blue-
berry vodkas - which have sev-
eral times the alcohol content of a
Four Loko - are all on the mar-
ket."
Dick Sheer, owner of Village
Corner, which closed down its
South University Avenue location
on Nov. 6, said he did not recog-
nize at first that Four Loko was
alcoholic.
"I work on the invoices and
bookkeeping, and the first time I
saw some on an invoice I had to
ask the rest of the staff whether
this was alcoholic or not, because

it's just like another energy drink,
and some of the beer distributors
carry some non-alcoholic bever-
ages," Sheer said.
Sheer added that alcoholic ener-
gy drinks have gained popularity
as of late.
"It languished for a little while
and then just exploded," Sheer
said. "I guess word just got around,
and then it became a big, big deal.
But still, it's such a small percent-
age of the overall alcoholic bever-
age business, but I don't know, if
it had been allowed to grow, who
knows?"
Sheer said he expects a rush of
customers following the ban, com-

ing in to stock up on drinks like
Four Loko, and said "some cans
may never get opened."
LSA sophomore Mary Rodri-
guez said she is a huge fan of Four
Loko and drinks it all the time
despite health risks.
"It's really bad for you ... but, I'm
only young once," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said she is very dis-
appointed that irresponsible con-
sumption of the drink has been the
impetus behind the ban on Four
Loko.
"I went and I bought like 60 of
them," Rodriguez said. "I'm really
sad that it's not going to be there
anymore."

The University of Michigan
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
PRESENTS a public lecture and reception
Pamela A. Raymond
Stephen S. Easter Collegiate Professor of
Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

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