Recent events involving food safety in the Hogarth dining facility ran by Sodexo have left some MSMS students with unsatisfactory interactions with the facility.

Haylee Haik, who is a MSMS senior, recently had a run in with food safety on a personal level when she found a metal chain link in her pork stir fry. The event did not initially phase her as she went on to state “Their sweet and sour pork is pretty darn good, so I threw the piece of metal on a napkin and kept chowing down.”

Although the event did not dishearten Haik in the moment, it did leave her with a few fears for her future use of the dining hall. “A metal chain link is by far the strangest thing I have ever found in my food, so I will definitely be extra cautious of what I eat at the cafeteria.”

This is not the first run in with food safety that MSMS students have had with Sodexo in recent years. Last year, Shelbi Allen, Class of 2017 graduate, investigated the quality of allergy prevention that the Dining Hall implements. Allen found that there was not proper labeling for meals containing nuts or other common allergens. After notifying Sodexo of the problem she found, Allen revisited the dining hall months later to find that little had changed.

Although many other students do not feel as though they are at risk for any illness or allergy, they are completely satisfied with the food that is prepared for them on a daily basis. Many wish that they had more options to choose from. Tristan Daily, an MSMS senior, commented, “I’m upset with the paltry salad bar selection. The lettuce is always wilted or frozen, and there’s rarely any form of protein.”  

There has also been a recent outcry from MSMS students who fear that their wishes are not heard by Sodexo. “Listen to our suggestions,” Daily said. “If they just listen to us and serve something to placate us every now and then we’d be much happier.” Many students are calling for a “chicken tender revolution” in which they are requesting that their favorite dish is brought back into the primary line up of dishes served in the Dining Hall.

Although these situations can shed a poor light on the Dining Hall and Sodexo in general, it is important to remember that situations like Haik’s are not common. “What happened was just an irregularity, so I don’t really blame the cafeteria workers. But, I guess they could switch to a better quality of frozen food that doesn’t contain metal. That’s not the kind of iron I need in my diet,” Haik commented.

Alan Johnson, general manager of the Hogarth Dining Hall, was unavailable for comment prior to deadline.