Allergen and Food Safety

Food Safety Awareness

In an effort to ensure the safety of all students and their guests where food is served we offer this overview for events where food is either (a) prepared by students, or (b) contracted from an outside vendor. The focus is on general food safety as well as raising an awareness of food allergies and labeling.

In general, it is prudent (and provides good information for guests) to label all foods being served.

Food Allergens – 90% of all food allergic reactions are caused by the following 8 food groups:

• Peanuts
• Fish
• Shellfish
• Tree Nuts
• Milk
• Eggs
• Wheat
• Soy

Common Food Allergies

The most common allergy is an allergy to nuts (recipes with nuts, nut products, cooked in peanut oil, etc.).

• If possible, avoid foods containing or produced with nuts/nut products
• If a dish with nut products must be served, it is the responsibility of the host (student club or organization) to ensure signage is provided alerting guests that "This dish contains nuts."
• If you are bringing food from an outside vendor, you must get a list of ingredients they have used that fall into the 8 categories listed above.
• Dining Services would be happy to provide signs if requested in advance of the event. While peanuts are not nuts (they are classified as legumes) they are a common allergen.

General Food Safety

• It is important to cook foods to proper temperatures as well as hold both hot and cold foods at proper temperatures and holding times.
• If a student group is preparing the food please ensure that you follow the minimum internal cooking temperatures for the foods. 
• Hot foods need to be held at a minimum of 140 degrees and no longer than 2 hours. If it goes below 140, it needs to be rapidly reheated until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
• Cold food should be maintained at 40 degrees or below.
• Please be sure all food has proper serving utensils so guests never have to handle community food with their hands.
• Additionally, ensure that utensils are not shared between dishes, specifically those containing any possible allergens.