As students continue voicing concerns about campus food safety, Binghamton University recently announced it has “implemented a series of comprehensive steps” to meet health and safety requirements in dining halls.

As part of this initiative, Sodexo deployed two new food safety specialists to campus, according to a Dateline announcement. The first specialist arrived on Nov. 13, while the second one will monitor food safety and preparation every day this week.

Sodexo will also audit its internal quality control procedures and report results to the University and the Student Culinary Council.

University staff from Auxiliary Services and Environmental Health and Safety will also help identify and prevent potential food safety risks, according to a University spokesperson.

“The University will continue to work closely with Sodexo to ensure that all meals served meet or exceed health and safety standards,” the Dateline announcement read. “We will also continue to increase oversight and monitoring in the dining halls while expecting Sodexo to deliver immediate and sustained improvements.”

The announcement came a week after the Student Association Congress unanimously passed a resolution calling for campus dining reforms. Among the demands are implementing meal swipes instead of the current a la carte system, expanding access to halal and kosher options and greater transparency about food allergens like sesame and gluten.

A subcommittee of SA representatives will begin meeting with BU Dining Services to propose this framework and discuss implementation.

The University’s chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America has actively campaigned for changes to the campus dining system. Earlier this month, the organization hosted its second dining town hall in collaboration with the Muslim Student Association and the Yiddish Bund.

A YDSA-led dining petition created last semester has received over 1,700 student signatures.

The current contract with Sodexo is set to expire this year. In a Nov. 5 statement, a University spokesperson told Pipe Dream that four proposals were made from different vendors for the next contract.

Undercooked chicken was served at a campus dining location on Nov. 9. This incident was followed by “two clean reports from the Broome County Health Inspector,” according to an FAQ page from University Auxiliary Services.

“Questions raised about cleanliness standards and an isolated instance involving undercooked protein were each addressed immediately, fully resolved, and confirmed through the appropriate follow-up reviews,” Daniel McLain, district manager for BUDS, told Pipe Dream in a statement. “Suggestions that these isolated incidents indicate a recurring or widespread pattern are inaccurate.”

“Any situation that falls short of our food safety or cleanliness expectations is taken seriously,” he continued.

There have been no other verified reports of undercooked food in the past year, the University told Pipe Dream in a statement.

Over the past five years, all four campus dining halls were found to have several health code violations, with the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center failing seven out of eight health inspections since Oct. 23, 2020.
Standard pest prevention services were on campus last week for evaluation and treatment. An Oct. 16 inspection in C4 revealed “insects, rodents present” as a violation.

In response, McLain wrote that “all identified items were immediately resolved, and a reinspection one week later found no violations.”
Students are encouraged to report complaints to an on-site manager or through Sodexo’s messaging system.

On Friday, the YDSA hosted a rally at the Hinman College Quad, where dozens of students gathered to demand improvements to campus dining.

“Our dining halls have been consistently receiving health and safety violations for the past decade,” the YDSA wrote in a Nov. 19 statement to Pipe Dream. “The only reason the administration feels it is necessary to implement our health and safety demands now is that we, the student body, have stood up and said, ‘Enough is enough.’”

“However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to meet the demands of the over 2,000 students, faculty, and parents calling for better dining,” the statement continued.