By Rylee Johnston Special to the chronicle
Multiple students have reportedly discovered insects in food they purchased from Hofstra’s Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center – the suspected result of organic produce shipments that were not sprayed with pesticides.
On Friday, Nov. 3, freshman Marc Meltzer and his friend ordered lunch from Freshens. As they were eating their food, his friend noticed what she at first thought was an olive in her salad, but after further inspection, the two of them realized that the ‘olive’ was actually a beetle.
Additionally, several other students posted photos on a Hofstra Facebook page of bugs found in the food they ordered from the university.
“We learned about a situation regarding foreign organic matter found in a guest’s food on Oct. 24. The student addressed the issue with a member of our management team and it was addressed immediately,” said Rich Maha, the resident district manager for Hofstra’s Campus Dining.
After bringing the contaminated salad back to Freshens, the workers offered to give her a new salad as well as a free meal.
“It was kind of gross to see in the food. The people at Freshens didn’t seem like they really cared, or that it really bothered them,” said Meltzer.
Currently, the cause of the contamination is unknown, but Maha believes that it could be connected to the local Long Island farm where Hofstra gets its organic produce. The produce is grown without the use of any pesticides making it easier for insects to go unnoticed by the suppliers.
Hofstra Dining Services has reached out to its supplier notifying them of the situation. “Our culinary team is receiving additional, enhanced training to better inspect food for service,” Maha said.
He explained that not only are the vegetables delivered pre-washed, but the cooks also conduct their own double-washing process once the food arrives. They always do this prior to serving the vegetables to students. Yet, Maha said, “Since the item was grown without pesticide, it is possible to have remained in the produce throughout the preparation process.”
Though the employees go through a deep-cleaning process, some students have found other things in their food that were not bugs. Sophomore television major Victoria Murphy said, “I found a rubber band in my food once. It must’ve been from the greens, like they didn’t cut the band.”
This is not the first year that Hofstra Dining Services has received complaints about contaminated food. Maha said, “There have been few occasions where students have addressed similar instances with us in the recent years.”
Hofstra Dining Services has not received complaints from any of the other dining locations on campus, making the Student Center the only area that has been affected by the presence of bugs.
For students like junior community science major Kelsey Bognar, one infested eatery is one too many. “People are going to be scared of eating there. I hope that this problem is going to be solved soon because Freshens is one of the only healthiest places to eat on campus,” Bognar said.
Sophomore psychology major Jayda Davis was not surprised to hear the news, but said it is still gross.“Hopefully they do something to fix it.”