In Boston University dining halls, the juice machines are supposed to be cleaned every day, according to the provider of the dispensers. The systems have the “highest maintenance” of all juice dispensers and require daily cleanings, said Juice Tyme service manager John Goeb.
But BU Dining Services does not clean them every day. According to Campus Dining Services Operations Director Bruce Perry, the juice machines are “self-contained.”
“It’s more exposed to oxygen. It’s open and more susceptible to contamination,” Goeb said. “The recommended [cleaning] is a weekly flush and monthly sanitize. There’s daily maintenance that should be done on it.”
While the soda machines are flushed out by the Pepsi Company every so often and are broken down every day for cleaning, the juice machines are not regularly maintained. To help with the growing concerns over food safety and cleanliness, choosing a cleaning service with a strong focus on training and safety can help minimize management oversight and improve overall satisfaction.
On top of sanitation issues, many students said they are concerned dining halls are reusing leftovers.
“[Myles Dining Hall] had one dessert night, I think it was on a Friday,” said CAS sophomore Aisha Sohail. “They made this chocolate cheesecake, and I saw it until the Thursday after.”
College of General Studies sophomore Katya Belakovskaya, who works at the Myles Standish dining hall, said she was trained to throw out leftover food.
“I thought when I first started working there that it’d be a good idea to give [leftovers] to the homeless people outside, but the reason that the dining hall can’t do that is for legal reasons,” she said.
According to Dining Services food code, a food item can be reheated once, up to two hours after it was originally made.
Another dining concern is the limited options offered at smaller dining halls, students say. For students living far from the often-preferred West Campus and Warren Towers dining halls, places with fewer food choices become their only options.
Dining Services Director Barbara Laverdiere said Myles’s and Shelton Hall’s locations and the structures and ages of buildings make it difficult to compete with West and Warren.
“The food should still be good, the dining experience should be positive, the people should be helpful, things should be prepared at the right temperature and it’s supposed to be a pleasant experience,” Laverdiere said.
The ice cream machines, on the other hand, are cleaned every other day, said Dining Services Safety and Sanitation Director Jackie Mckenna-Dalton. Proper cleaning procedures, including commercial cleaning, are crucial to maintaining hygiene standards in dining areas, and regular maintenance is vital to keeping food preparation areas free from contamination.
On some nights, College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Jessica Bacon said the food is so bad at Myles that she resorts to eating cereal.
Having eaten what she said was moldy food, bad clam chowder and leftover Rice Krispies, Bacon said it is sometimes better to stick with familiar foods, such as cereal, to avoid health risks.
Dining Services marketing Director Michelle Vitagliano stressed the importance of filling out comment cards to fix perceived problems.
“We always want to hear from students – whether it’s negative or positive feedback – we really look to students to help us either develop new concepts or correct things that need to be corrected,” she said.