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Food

This British Stadium Thinks You're Smuggling Terrorism in Your Snacks

Last week, a London sports arena confiscated tennis fans' home-packed meals, citing the UK's "severe" threat level as a concern. Since the advent of global terrorism, worries over the food and drink supply have proliferated—but are they legitimate?
Photo via Flickr user TheBusyBrain

Terrorism really hit home for British tennis fans last week when the meals they had packed to accompany their match-viewing were confiscated as they entered a sports arena outside London. Citing the raised terror threat level in the UK, officials at the O2 Arena forced ticket holders for the ATP World Tour finals to chuck their lovingly prepared sandwiches, crisps, and jellies—and much grumbling ensued.

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"I am not impressed that I was not able to take food in to watch the tennis as I am coeliac and there is no food for me inside The O2," Kate Millin tweeted last Wednesday.

"Been to the O2 4x for tennis, only this year was no food & drink allowed in. Not even banana. Really put off coming again by food fascists," Colin Holmes added to the angry Twitter chorus.

Although some match-goers suspected ulterior motives for the stadium's snack-grab—claiming that vendors inside the O2 were experiencing depressed sales and were looking to cash in on fears of terrorist activity—the blanket ban on foodstuffs was a rare example of how international conflict can affect daily life in countries far away. At the end of August, the UK's terror threat level was raised from "substantial" to "severe" in response to Islamic State activities in Syria and Iran. The second-highest threat level, "severe" indicates that the risk of a terrorist attack on the UK is "highly likely," and is based on information intercepted by the MI5, the country's storied intelligence agency. In late September, British fighter jets participated in airstrikes on Islamic State militant groups in Iraq, fanning fears that terrorists could retaliate on unsuspecting citizens—quite possibly by sneaking bombs into sports stadiums via food and drink.

Food-and-beverage-related terrorism fears have a long history. Of course, the medieval rumors that accused European Jews of poisoning well water to infect people with the Black Death are well known, and the practice of well-poisoning in fact dates to ancient times: As far back as 600 BC, Assyrians drugged enemies' wells with rye ergot, a fungus that causes hallucinogenic effects similar to those of LSD. But in more recent history, food fears have abounded, too.

In 1984—in the dawn of the age of global terrorism, a whole nine years before the first World Trade Center bombing—751 residents of The Dalles, Oregon contracted salmonella poisoning after followers of the Indian-born cult leader Rajneesh sprinkled salmonella culture on local salad bars' lettuce and in their salad dressing. Rajneesh had started a commune called Rajneeshpuram in the area, and several thousands of his followers moved there. When Rajneesh sought election to the Wasco County Circuit Court in November 1984, commune leadership decided to incapacitate the county's voting population; the salmonella poisoning incident was the first and largest bioterrorist attack in the US.

Since the Oregon attack, paranoia around food bioterrorism has been quick to surface any time threat levels have been considered to be high. In 2010, salad bars in the US again became feared dining destinations when Department of Homeland Security officials warned of a "credible" threat that Al Qaeda operatives could poison restaurant food with ricin and cyanide; luckily, the threat never panned out. And last year, an article in Modern Farmer pondered whether US farms would be the next terrorism target. MUNCHIES tackled the question earlier this year, too.

As Michael Meurer, a political consultant and former advisor to the California Democratic Party, points out, fears of potential food terrorism seem overblown when compared to the number of actual deaths caused by pathogens in the US's poorly-regulated food supply: In 2011, 17 Americans were killed in all terrorist incidents worldwide, while foodborne pathogens sickened 48.7 million, hospitalized 127,839 and caused a total of 3,037 deaths.

Hopefully, terrorists won't gain access to our salad bars or farms anytime soon. Meanwhile, the O2 stadium in London should probably be more worried about domestic terrorism—in the form of retaliation from hangry tennis fans.