American Dining Creations (ADC) has been on campus since May and fully implemented its “all you care to eat” system at the beginning of the fall semester. As the second half of the semester approaches, students have noticed that the quality of the food has heavily declined.
An issue that has been posed to the community is the lack of care for students with food-based allergies. According to the SNHU Dining website, they have an inclusive menu with gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and vegetarian options.
Grace Frink (’25) has celiac disease and has faced issues with gluten-free options. She noticed wheat noodles at Elements, the “allergen-free” station. She communicated with ADC, but nothing has improved.
Samuel Befumo (’24) suffers from a meat and seafood allergy and has been frequently vocal about the limited options he and students like him have on campus. He has noticed that the stations have changed. “Meat has been put into vegan options, meaning there’s nothing I can eat that day,” said Befumo.
In the dining hall, there are placement cards in front of various food options indicating what is in each item. Befumo noticed these cards were in the wrong locations, such as the eggplant sign in front of the chicken parmesan. He communicated with the workers about this issue as it can be misleading.
“Most of the time, the staff can’t tell me what is in it, which is a problem in itself,” said Befumo.
Some cards leave out elements in the food. When Befumo grabbed a broccoli quiche from the breakfast station, he found ham at the bottom of it. The signs did not indicate it included meat of any form.
Befumo can only eat at two stations in the dining hall because of his food-based allergies. He used to frequent the sandwich station; however, he can no longer go near it due to cross-contamination.
“They don’t change their gloves between sandwiches and have stopped making them on [the] paper that they used to,” said Befumo. “The few times I’ve asked, they point [out that] the damage has been done since they already put their glove-covered hand into the cheese bin or the bread.”
Frink and Befumo feel a lack of care for students on campus.
“It shows the company’s desire to sweep people who are voicing concerns to the side, instead of showing any semblance of care for the people they are feeding,” said Befumo.
