Cornell University Takes Campus Dining Gluten-Free

Celiac.com 06/28/2017 - Announcements from colleges revamping their dining halls to offer gluten-free and allergen-free foods to students, faculty and guests with food allergies or sensitivities are coming at a rapid clip. 

The latest gluten-free feather in the cap goes to Cornell University, which has restructured its campus dining halls and food services to include 100-percent gluten-, tree nut- and peanut-free kitchens, including offering a new 100-percent plant-based burger at two campus locations.

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Cornell received its gluten-free facility certification from Kitchens with Confidence after cleaning or replacing equipment and meeting the rest of the qualifications for gluten-free certification. Still, even before the certification was official, Cornell had been quietly serving gluten-free dishes for the last two years.  During that time, Risley offered a stir-fry station that served only rice noodles, and also served rich brownies and fluffy biscuits made with gluten-free flour. 

Risley’s plant-forward, made-from-scratch menu items also include house-made soups and salad dressings, and the introduction of a 100-percent plant-based Impossible Burger at two Cornell Dining eateries on campus. These initiatives are part of Cornell’s commitment to the Menus of Change principles of healthy, sustainable eating, including a focus on whole, minimally processed food and transparency in menu items. 

As an additional part of that commitment, Cornell Dining will soon implement high-quality ingredient standards in several clean ingredient categories. The department's Clean Ingredients team has already changed more than 50 ingredients currently purchased, and is actively changing recipes at both the AYCTE locations and the retail eateries.

Cornell Dining now oversees concession operations at Cornell Athletics facilities, while Cornell Catering manages events at Moakley House, offering snacks, meals and beverages at Big Red games, the winter season at Bartels Hall, and adding more concession sites for Cornell's spring sports season. 

Meanwhile, Cornell Concessions will manage events at Moakley House, the clubhouse at Cornell University's Robert Trent Jones Golf Course. Students, faculty and visitors at Cornell can look for these gluten-free and other menu changes at all campus food locations and events.

Look for stories like this to become commonplace as more colleges and universities provide accommodations for students, faculty and visitors with food allergies and sensitivities.