Hibachi, deli, omelets
We flag for the top 8 allergens and have icons to let students know if the product is vegan, vegetarian or made-without-gluten.
1. We provide access to ingredient information for made-to-order* items. *Made-to-order - Meals that are prepared on request and to your specification in the dining hall. Examples include a sandwich station, omelet station, burrito station, etc.
Salad bars, yogurt stations
2. We provide access to ingredient information for self-serve* items. *Self-serve - Meals that are served buffet-style in a dining hall. These are typically high risk for cross-contact and are best avoided by diners with food allergies.
If a student discloses to us that they have an allergy- our staff changes their gloves, washes their hands and prepares the special order on a clean service using clean utensils and plates and hands it to the student.
3. We have procedures in place to lower the risk of cross-contact in made-to-order areas.
Although we don't have signs to let students know we do it, we do get requests for items from back up containers and gladly get it for them.
4. We have procedures in place to lower the risk of cross-contact in self-serve areas.
We don't have "pre-order" meals necessarily, but we do have procedures in place that if we can not meet the needs of a student with food allergies in our regular dining program. We will make accommodations and sometimes that is setting them up on a meal cycle (made without their allergens) and having them come to pick up their meals on a daily basis.
5. We have pre-order meals* available. *Pre-order meals - Custom meals that can be ordered in advance by a diner so they are ready for pick up at a specific time. Typically these can be ordered online or by phone/text.
At our allergen station we have an associate serving it at all times, students have to use a clean plate, items are made before any other menu item.
6. We have an allergy-friendly station*. *Allergy-friendly station - A food station where specific ingredients are banned, typically including many or all items in the Top 8 allergens and gluten.
food allergy 101
anaphylaxis
avoiding cross contact
which stations can accommodate
7. We train dining services staff members.
8. We have a registered dietitian* on staff. *Registered dietitian - Registered dietitians are food and nutrition experts who are often tasked with helping students with food allergies navigate the dining halls.
9. We train our RA's.
They communicate with the leader or manager of the program and they make special requests for those students through our catering department.
10. We have inclusive resident life programs* including food. *Inclusive resident life programs - Programs in the resident halls often include food. Inclusive resident life programs will offer students with food allergies the opportunity to request safe food alternatives for events they attend in the dorms.
11. We offer accommodations for roommate assignments. *Every accommodation request is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. A housing accommodation cannot be guaranteed prior to an individual evaluation.
If our normal dining program does not fit your needs, we will work with your student to make reasonable accommodations- that may mean making his or her's meals separately to be picked up, stocking their favorite bread or snack, etc.
12. Our disability office processes food allergy and celiac disease accommodation requests.
13. We have stock, undesignated epinephrine* available for emergency response. *Stock, undesignated epinephrine - Epinephrine that is prescribed to a college or university rather than to a particular student. This epinephrine is kept on hand to use for any student that experiences anaphylaxis.
14. Our campus emergency responders carry epinephrine.