ESPN's report citing the RBC Center for health code violations was misleading, the arena's general manager said.
The report looked at major sports arenas across the country, and noted that 67 percent of the vendors at RBC Center had been cited for "critical violations" during their last inspection.
"The bottom line is I feel that the ESPN article was misleading to the public and was written irresponsibly," said Dave Olsen, the RBC Center's vice president and general manager. "The report was irresponsible in the fact that it did not give details. It did not give you an understanding of what critical violations are. The public is out there thinking that everything here is dirty and that's not the case at all. Our sanitary scores here are exemplary."
Critical violations can range from storing raw meat above cooked foods to holding food at temperatures that encourage bacteria growth. They can include violations such as not providing sanitizer. The violations are typically corrected on the spot. According to the Wake County's food inspection website, these violations are "more likely to cause foodborne illness."
"One hundred percent of those critical violations were shown to be corrected before the completion of the inspection," Olsen said.
Indeed, an establishment can have several critical violations and still score an "A," and Olsen said that every vendor at the arena has a score no lower than 96. Inspection scores are posted behind the counter of every restaurant in the state, according to law, and Olsen worried that ESPN's report could confuse the public.
Most of the scores, available via search engine at Wake County's website, were in the high 90s, though some of those scores were helped by a two-point bonus for passing a food safety course. And one establishment, listed as RBC Club Kitchen, did score 95.5 after the two-point bonus for not having sneeze guards at a salad bar and not holding food at the proper temperature at a carving station and buffet, among other minor violations.
Phone calls made to VAB Catering, the exclusive food vendor at the arena, were forwarded to Olsen. VAB Catering reports to Olsen, who is an employee of the Carolina Hurricanes, according to Jim Rutherford, the Hurricanes' general manager.
Rutherford was confident the violations would be addressed.
"If there's things that need to be fixed, we're going to fix them and fix them right away," Rutherford said. "We're going to do a better job with some of these areas that have been identified."
Charles Rozanski, N.C. State's associate athletic director and director of sports medicine, responded to a call to the school's athletic department. The Wolfpack men's basketball squad plays its home games at the arena.
"Any violation is a concern for the health and well being of our patrons," Rozanski said, noting the scores in the 90s. "We obviously don't control the food service, but we have confidence that the folks in the RBC Center are going to respond appropriately."
