Food Allergies
Brown Dining Services understands the needs of food allergic students. Dining Services staff is able to safely and reasonably guide and accommodate students. Most food allergies and intolerances can be managed independently within the dining halls. We cannot accommodate for dietary preferences, however, we can provide students with information around our menus, how to navigate the dining halls for options, and the resources to assist in making meal plan work.
Students with a single or few food allergies or dietary restrictions should be able to navigate the dining hall menus using the information in this section.
Menu, ingredient and nutritional information are made available weekly for the dining halls. Menus can be found at these links for the Refectory and Verney-Woolley. Weekly ingredient information is linked to from the left side of the menu webpages. Please note that recipes, which may include commercial mixes or dressings, for example, will have additional ingredients (i.e. sub-ingredients) which may not be printed on the ingredient cards.
Kitchen Areas & Dining Hall Serveries
Peanut and tree nut allergies are among the most common allergies reported among students. Brown Dining is NOT a peanut or tree nut free environment. While we do not use peanuts or tree nuts in the majority of our recipes, we do process nuts in our bakeshop, which creates the potential for cross contact and contamination. We also serve peanut butter from bulk containers: peanut butter is offered in both dining halls in designated areas throughout the year and summer. In addition, there is always the potential for food manufacturers to change their formularies. Many food manufacturers also label for: “may contain (particular) allergen”. We do not control for or carry over labeling of products by manufacturers that bear “may contain” or “processed in a facility that also processes” type of labeling.
Guidance Available in Dining Halls
Brown Dining’s residential meal plan program, does not permit for individualized menus, however, we will work with the offices of Student and Employee Accessibility Services (SEAS, formerly DSS) to reasonably accommodate each student and will handle on a case-by-case basis. Our board plan menus have intentionally been developed to offer flexibility and variety to reasonably meet most dietary needs and preferences.
Dining Services staff is able to direct you to our dining hall menus and ingredients which should assist you in answering your question(s). We do not identify for allergens on our ingredient cards or menus, however, for allergens: peanut, tree nut, fish, and shellfish, we can reasonably guide you to the information so that you are able to make your own food choices. In the case of a severe and life threatening food allergy or one which substantially limits your food options, especially to wheat, soy, milk and eggs (ingredients much more difficult to identify), again, we recommend you register with SEAS.
Sample Ingredient Card
Student Responsibility
Students with life threatening food allergies who may need to use an epi-pen should be carrying their own. Dining Services staff is NOT trained to administer epi-pens and CANNOT provide or administer them. Students should make appropriate people (i.e. roommates, friends, and/or Resident Advisors) aware of their conditions so people can react effectively should emergency medical services be needed.
Notify the offices of Student and Employee Accessibility Services (SEAS) of your dietary needs and accommodations prior to arriving on campus. Know that Dining Services cannot accommodate students without prior notification and documentation from SEAS. If you have a question about a specific menu item or recipe, please seek out the following individuals. These are the professional managers who have been trained to handle food allergy related questions in the residential dining hall facility.
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John O’Shea, CEC, Executive Chef – Sharpe Refectory
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Steven Monast, Production Manager – Sharpe Refectory
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Janet Parris, Manager – Verney-Woolley