CAMPUS CATERING services do not investigate the nutritional value of meals served by the various catering outlets run on campus, Vision can reveal.
As an in-house catering scheme, the catering services are not required to provide customers with full information on food sold, unlike all shops and commercial outlets.
The University also does not hold information on the origin of produce bought from various suppliers. In response to a Freedom of Information request concerning the time taken from production to the plate, the University could only tell Vision that “this [information] would have to come from the supplier.
“On providing basic nutritional values for on-campus meals they said, “The University has previously looked at some way of providing this customer information but found it was unable to do so satisfactorily.”
A Vision poll at the two catered colleges revealed 50% of 58 catered students asked were “not satisfied” by the nutritional balance of food available. Shockingly, 82% of 55 catered students asked felt that their health was not “a major priority” for catering services from their experience of the food.
An employee at one of the catering outlets noted: “I don’t know what they put in the food but there’s definitely a lot of oil. I’m surprised there’s no information.” The person added that others working within campus catering services would probably agree.
One student who knows the effects of the food served more than anyone is Derwent catered student Matt Stein. Stein had a lung transplant four years ago and the cocktail of drugs he takes every day has a direct effect on his digestion.
A nutritionist told him to limit the amount he uses the University’s catering because she felt it was affecting his health. He told Vision that “the drugs and my health do not react well at all with this kind of food. I got very ill and I now eat virtually all my meals from fresh food I’ve bought.”
He agreed that nutritional information would have helped his decision.In a follow-up statement, Phil Kember, head of Catering, Bars and Hospitality, said: “It is not realistic or practical to maintain accurate nutritional information on such a large scale.” He cited the fact that they have “a constantly changing recipe database of around 1,500 dishes,” and did not provide any further information.
However, when Vision spoke to Bristol University’s catering department, they explained how they “plan meals a long time in advance” in order to provide good nutritional balance. Unlike the current York system, this includes unlimited fruit for catered students.Laura Borisovaite, YUSU Welfare Officer, commented that: “I think it is important to know what you are eating in order to be able to make an informed choice prior to purchasing a product… This is increasingly becoming best practice in catering outlets. It would be helpful for students to know what nutritional value and variety they can expect from the food that some have to eat daily.”