University of South Carolina
VerifiedOur residential dining halls have ingredient information available upon request as well as ingredient information available on our online platform, Nutrislice. Our on-campus retail locations are consistent with the ingredients served at the off-campus locations, so this information is available on franchise websites.
All of our residential dining halls have Chefs, Managers, and Allergen Champions who are AllerTrain certified. This means that there will always be someone on staff who is knowledgeable about food allergies and can address student's questions/concerns.
In our residential dining halls, the main self-service areas are the salad bars or dessert areas. Ingredients and allergen information for salad bar items will be available on our Nutrislice app, as well as available upon request. Salad bars also have posted signs that specify the name of each individual item and calorie content per serving. Ingredient and allergen information for desserts is available upon request.
There are TrueBalance stations located in FOUR of our six residential dining halls. TrueBalance is a station that excludes the top 9 allergens from all recipes. These stations have separate food storage areas, seperate food prep areas, color coded utensils, and are audited every month for continued compliance. THREE of the four TrueBalance stations are on a 4-week cycle menu, which means the same menu item won't come around again for an entire month. The remaining TrueBalance station operates on a "build your own" bowl menu that stays the same throughout the year.
If a student makes a staff member aware of an allergy or dietary restriction, they will immediately change their gloves/apron and wash their hands. Each location also has a purple case with color coded utensils and cutting boards, to reduce the likelihood of cross-contact. These cases will be used for the preparation of allergen-friendly meals, washed/sanitized after use, and then be stored away until next use. We also utilize other safety measures such as cooking allergen-friendly items at the beginning of the day or using separate ovens to cook certain menu items (depending on the capability of each specific location).
All contents in our self-serve stations are separated from each other and each have their own set of tongs/serving utensils to minimize cross-contact. We are aware that there is still potential for cross-contact, so we are more than happy to prepare any of the self-serve items in the kitchen. There is signage on each of these stations indicating that fresh items can be prepared in the back if there is any worry about cross-contact.
Our pre-order meals are only offered at our national & USC brand locations, not at dining halls. If a student is pre-ordering from one of these locations, it is crucial that they review ingredient information and identify foods that are safe for them to consume. It is also recommended that they include their food allergy in the "special instructions" section of the order, to ensure our employees are taking extra care.
There are TrueBalance stations located in FOUR of our six residential dining halls. TrueBalance is a station that excludes the top 9 allergens from all recipes. These stations have separate food storage areas, seperate food prep areas, color coded utensils, and are audited every month for continued compliance. THREE of the four TrueBalance stations are on a 4-week cycle menu, which means the same menu item won't come around again for an entire month. The remaining TrueBalance station operates on a "build your own" bowl menu, which stays the same throughout the year.
All Foodservice Directors on staff are required to have an active ServSafe & AllerTrain certification. Managers, Chefs & Allergen Champions at each dining location are required to have an active AllerTrain certification. All new/returning frontline employees receive a training on food allergies from the Registered Dietitian. Weekly audits are also performed at each of our dining locations to ensure frontline employees are properly handling/answering food allergy questions. Feedback from these audits goes directly to the Registered Dietitian.
It might be beneficial to contact these offices as early as possible, so there is ample time to process accomodation requests.
- Contact USC Housing for housing accommodations
- 803-777-4283
- Contact USC Fraternity & Sorority Life for housing/meal accommodations
- sagreeks@mailbox.sc.edu
- 803-777-3506
Registering with the Student Disability Resource Center is the first step to any of the accommodations listed in this form. A letter will automatically be sent to the Registered Dietitian once your information is submitted. The dietitian will then personally reach out and schedule a consultation to answer any questions/concerns about dining on campus.
Phone: 803-777-3175
If a student believes they are having an allergic reaction in one of our dining locations, they are encouraged to administer their epinephrine, and alert a foodservice worker. The worker is trained to: First, ask the student if they have & can administer their epinephrine. Second, call 911. Third, keep the student seated with feet elevated (if possible) so as not to worsen the reaction. Our worker is then instructed to stay with the student until EMS arrives.