By AARON KREIN
Arts Editor
Gluten is one of many food allergies that the Saint Rose dining hall caters to when needed. In the last few years, the allergy has become a bigger deal on campuses and those who have to eat gluten-free are looking for more options.
The population of gluten-allergic students has risen over the past five to six years, according to Richard Meigel, Saint Rose’s food service director through Aramark for the past 13 years. Christine Hebert, a registered dietitian, defines gluten as a term for proteins found in grain such as barley, wheat and rye. They are found as an ingredient in a variety of foods and even salad dressing as well as tea bags.
“When I first started here, gluten wasn’t an issue,” said Meigel. “People didn’t know much about gluten or celiac disease.”
According to Hebert, celiac disease is an autoimmune disease that develops when the body “inappropriately reacts” to gluten after consumption.
“The body detects gluten as something harmful, causing inflammation that leads to stomach cramping, diarrhea and often malabsorption of vitamins,” said Hebert.
For years, Dining Services mostly dealt with peanut allergies, but gluten quickly turned into their most common issue. Aramark first started introducing gluten-free food products after nutritionists and chefs in Philadelphia designed an appropriate menu.
“There is a test kitchen there and they practice all types of different recipes,” said Meigel. “They’re constantly working.”
To avoid cross-contamination at Saint Rose, there are certain sections of the kitchen with color-coded cutting boards dedicated to different types of food allergies.
Meigel said that students and parents with food allergy issues usually see Dining Services during move-in weekend. They disclose the level of “sensitivity” that pertains to the student’s food allergy. After explaining the food options provided in the dining hall, students make a decision whether they can or cannot accept the meal plan.
“We generally have the student and the parent tell us what they can and cannot eat,” said Meigel.
Students can’t deviate from the meal plan unless they have a “deadly” allergy, which require numerous notes from their doctor. On the other hand, students who live in Centennial Hall and other apartment complexes don’t have to sign up for a meal plan.
One senior living in a campus apartment with gluten intolerance, Rachel Ten Eyck, did just that. She didn’t like that there wasn’t a variety of options to pick from in terms of eating gluten-free.
“It was mostly box meals and I didn’t want to eat a boxed meal every night,” said Ten Eyck. “The bread they had was always just taken out of the freezer so I always had to toast it even if I didn’t want it toasted.”
Ten Eyck would often ask a worker if certain dishes were gluten-free and they would be confused about what she was talking about. Meigel said that all managers take a Serve Safe class that is then filtered to employees through meetings before the start of the semester.
“For the money we have to pay for the meals, there should be more options,” said Ten Eyck.
An international junior student from Australia, Julian Lipinski, has been eating gluten-free since he came to the United States his freshmen year.
“I used to eat everything and anything,” said Lipinski. “I had a blood test to come here and I found out that I had the antibodies for celiac disease. I have to eat gluten-free because I’ll get quite ill if I have it.”
When Lipinski came here as a freshmen in 2014, the dining hall had a refrigerator filled with gluten-free pre-prepared meals like “plain” meat and pasta. Besides himself, there weren’t many people eating the meals so most of the time, food would go to waste and be thrown in the trash. Eventually, the fridge was replaced.
“They have a gluten-free microwave and they have a loaf of bread out there to use, and sometimes wraps,” said Lipinski.
Along with regularly displayed food that is labeled “gluten-free,” there are also frozen dinners from Amy’s and pre-wrapped desserts available. Lipinski would then bring his bread, once toasted, over to either the deli or grill station to complete making his meal.
“I often have to ask ‘what’s in this?’ so I would say an improvement they can make is to have every ingredient listed,” said Lipinski.
If there is nothing there he can eat, he’ll ask one of the workers if they have any plain meat in the kitchen, which is prepared in about 20 minutes.
Meigel is hoping that students will share their opinions and suggestions about the dining hall’s meals. Students can go online and take a survey at YourDiningVoice.com, posted by Aramark, which focuses on the food and services of the Saint Rose dining hall. Dining Services isn’t looking for unhelpful responses such as simply stating, “the food sucks.”
“We’re looking for decent feedback and what’s wrong with it,” said Meigel.
If the kitchen made at least one gluten-free meal every day that everyone would enjoy, like the chicken stir-fry Lipinski had recently, he’d be satisfied.
“When they make something good that is gluten-free that everyone can eat and I can have it, I’m wrapped,” said Lipinski. “It’s always a good meal.”
Students who don’t have an allergy are free to explore the gluten-free options, although, Meigel doesn’t see that happen too often.
“It’s horrible flavor. The breads taste like cardboard,” said Meigel. “If you’re doing it for flavor and taste, that’s not where you want to go.”
Hebert said that the more students realize a gluten-free diet isn’t always as healthy as people think, the less students who don’t need to eat it are interested.
“The only people who actually need gluten-free foods are those who have celiac disease or a diagnosed intolerance to gluten,” said Hebert. “We are seeing a decrease in the number of people who choose to go gluten-free on their own.”
At the end of the day, Aramark and the Office of Dining Services are hoping to satisfy food allergy and dietary needs with maximum effort.
“We’re not perfect but we try to do the best we can and fix the issues we see,” said Meigel.
However, Ten Eyck sees this dilemma in college campuses as part of a bigger challenge.
“There are restaurants I can no longer go to because they do not offer any kind of gluten free options,” said Ten Eyck. “I believe all food services need to treat food allergies equally. They should offer as many options as possible, so everyone can enjoy a meal.”
