Food Allergies & Special Diets
Cornell Dining takes food allergies and other dietary restrictions very seriously. Cornell Dining's culinary team and management are trained yearly with the AllerTrain food allergy training to increase awareness of ingredient labeling, cross-contamination, and other concerns.
If you have a food allergy or intolerance, it is important to learn about all the options available to you. Please work with us to review your options. Many students are easily accommodated by foods served each day in the many dining locations. We'll assist with managing dietary conditions within the dining rooms. A detailed plan is developed for dining on campus safely. If the options are so limited that they will not afford a healthy nutritional diet, chefs in the dining room are asked to make meals to meet the individual needs.
Read on for more details about these specific topics:
- Allergen Labeling
- Kosher and Halal
- Vegetarian and Vegan
- Eating Gluten-Free
- Gluten-Free, Peanut-Free, Tree-Nut-Free
Please contact us for more information at diningnutrition@cornell.edu.
To stay up-to-date on Cornell Food Allergy and Special Diets, please join our mailing list by emailing dining-food-allergies-l-request@cornell.edu from the email address you'd like to receive messages with the word join in the subject of the message. Please leave the body of the message blank.
Student Disability Services
We recognize that there are a variety of health conditions that may impact your food choices. We can work with you to find appropriate meal options across campus.
Cornell Dining has taken many steps to be allergy-friendly and inclusive, including having a wide variety of options in each dining facility (including gluten-free options).
Based on your specific situation, we may need to make a personalized dietary plan to make sure your needs are met. Visit the SDS website to learn how to register for dietary-related disability/chronic health accommodations and/or modifications.
Allergen Labeling
Cornell Dining is committed to providing options and information to all of our guests with different dietary preferences. All menu items in Cornell’s Residential Dining Rooms are labeled for the following major allergens: milk, egg, fish, tree nuts (excluding coconut), coconut, peanuts, shellfish, soy, and sesame. We also label for gluten. See below for an example of a label you would see in one of our dining units.
We have changed our allergen program to explicitly label coconut as a separate allergen from tree nuts. Many people with tree nut allergies are able to tolerate coconut, and we want our guests to have as many safe choices as possible. This change will help guests with tree nut and/or coconut allergies make better-informed decisions about our menu items.
Disclaimer
Cornell Dining makes every attempt to identify ingredients that may cause allergic reactions for those with food allergies. Every effort is made to instruct our food production staff on the severity of food allergies, and to label items with possible allergen-containing ingredients. However, there is always a risk of contamination and the possibility that manufacturers of the commercial foods we use could change the formulation at any time, without notice. Customers concerned with food allergies need to be aware of these risks.Cornell Dining is committed to providing options and information to all of our guests with different dietary preferences.
Kosher and Halal
For those who follow a Kosher diet, 104West! Multicultural Dining Room is our Star K-certified residential dining room, located on west campus. 104West! also accommodates Halal and Seventh-day Adventist diets. All Kosher foods are prepared and packaged under the supervision of a mashgiach.
There are dedicated Halal and Kosher stations at Morrison Dining in Toni Morrison Hall on north campus, both open for lunch and dinner daily. (Holidays might affect each station's operations.)
Halal meals are available upon request at Keeton House Dining Room, at dinner seven days a week and at lunch and brunch on Saturday and Sunday.
Additionally, all foods in Cornell Dining's residential dining rooms are labeled for alcohol and pork.
Contact 104West! for more information.
Vegetarian and Vegan Options
As part of our partnership with Menus of Change, we offer Plant Forward options for all of our guests including vegan and vegetarian menu items at all of our dining locations. Within our Residential Dining Locations, menu items are labeled as vegan or vegetarian at the food station based on inherent ingredients. Whenever possible, we try to use dedicated vegan fryers and equipment, but this is not always possible. If you prefer to avoid foods fried in oil that may have been used for non-vegan items, please avoid foods with the “shared oil” sign below. If you have any questions about how we prepare a specific food, please ask!
You can learn more about the vegan and vegetarian offerings at our retail locations on NetNutrition. Choose the vegan or vegetarian preference to identify appropriate options. Some items may also be customized to meet your needs.
Eating Gluten-Free on Campus
Gluten-free options including bread, cereals, and desserts are offered throughout campus. Cornell Dining is proud to offer house made foods, which include fewer processed ingredients. Whenever possible, we try to choose ingredients and recipes that limit allergens and glutens to make our program as accessible as possible.
Gluten-Free, Peanut-Free, Tree-Nut-Free Dining
Cornell Dining is proud to offer Risley Dining — a residential dining room that sources ingredients and menus without gluten, peanuts, or tree nuts (coconut is allowed). This Dining Room is AllerCheck™ approved and earned a Certificate of Achievement from the nation’s leading food allergy experts, MenuTrinfo®, LLC. AllerCheck™ helps you dine with confidence so you can find foods that fit your needs.
The Risley team also produces gluten-free, peanut-free, and tree-nut-free grab-and-go options that are available for sale in our retail locations — just look for the purple seal.
