Many believe providing a safe environment for the University of Central Missouri students is a priority for UCM’s dining services. Tinashe Dzvurumi, Director of Operations at Sodexo, believes providing a safe environment requires a multi-faceted approach with an established set of protocols across various parts of the dining halls. He also believes it is important to connect with students’ needs.
“When students raise a concern as far as food safety or quality, we try to correct them immediately,” Dzvurumi said. Dzvurumi says an important component of any overall college safety strategy is having a food safety plan for onsite food service facilities.
There are two dining halls at UCM, Ellis Dining Hall and Todd Dining Hall. These halls are the main cafeterias for many students on campus, as first and second-year students are required to have a UCM dining hall meal plan. The food at both dining halls is supplied by Sodexo, a global food service and facilities management company that professionally caters to college campuses around the region.
Many students find they have differing experiences throughout the two dining halls.
“I never expect the experience to be stellar, but I don’t expect to find stuff in my food….but typically it isn’t terrible,” Sophomore Leo Gershner said.
Other students are more satisfied with their experiences.
“I think both [dining halls] are fine. They are pretty clean considering the amount of traffic they receive,” Sophomore Katherine Hamilton said.
According to Dzvurumi, various regulations and procedures are in place to ensure health and safety in university dining halls. UCM’S Dining by Sodexo services have third parties that come to the UCM campus dining halls and inspect the food and environments. According to the Missouri Food Code for the Food Establishments of the State of Missouri, a Food Safety Code functions to safeguard public health and provide food that is safe, unadulterated and honestly presented. EcoSure and Johnson County’s Health and Food Safety both come and inspect the UCM dining halls. They inspect twice a semester. Internally, these organizations have systems in place to record temperatures and food safety standards.
