USC dining officials say facts easily accessible
It’s the time of year when healthy eating once again becomes a priority.
But can students make informed choices at USC?
It depends who you ask. While Carolina Dining currently posts basic nutritional information — calories, grams of fat, sodium — outside the hot lines and fast food vendors and on its website, some students feel this isn’t enough to sustain healthy eating in the student population.
“I do try to pay attention to the nutrition facts, but they don’t seem to be that well-advertised,” said Albert Clark, a fourth-year music education student. “Especially upstairs, it’s not put up in a conspicuous place where everyone can see it.”
Even students who do notice the nutritional labels for different menu items are skeptical of their accuracy in relation to portion size.
“The hot lines have [calorie information] up on little postcards, but they don’t always match up with the amount of food they give you,” said first-year elementary education student Jennifer Hodshon. “So you can’t be sure of what you’re really getting.”
Carolina Dining officials said there’s plenty of information to make healthy decisions.
Russell House Operations Director Michael Gwiazdowski said Carolina Dining is trying to increase nutrition fact availability to students by promoting its Balanced Way Plate program, which features hot line meal combinations under 600 calories with less than 35 percent of calories from fat, less than 80 milligrams of sodium and at least 3 grams of fiber. The program also features under-300-calorie desserts, sides and snacks with less than 35 percent of calories from fat, 250 milligrams of sodium and that contain at least 1 gram of fiber. Also, The Carolina Dining website features a nutrition calculator, which allows students access to nutrition facts on any Sodexo entrée.
The website also provides links to the nutritional information pages of Chik-fil-A, Burger King, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Pandini’s and Freshen’s.
However, students don’t always see nutritional value posters directly outside Chik-fil-A or Burger King since, according to Gamecock Park managers, their official menus change periodically.
“We realized we have the options, and we have some signs explaining what the options are, but we need to get in people’s faces a little bit more to tell them about the healthier options,” Gwiazdowski said. “However, my responsibility is not to mandate anybody’s choices. We base our menus on our sales; we know what people come and choose, and we sell a lot of Whoppers.”
Besides the Whopper, some popular high-calorie meals include the 820-calorie chicken finger and curly fries plate, a Wednesday afternoon staple containing 57 grams of fat (88 percent of recommended daily intake), eight grams of which is saturated fat (40 percent recommended intake) and 1640 milligrams of sodium. A Whopper contains 670 calories and 40 grams of fat, and a chopped Caesar salad with pesto chicken from Pandini’s totals 1130 calories and 87 grams of fat.
Fourth-year music education student Quinton Gee, a member of the Army National Guard whose goal is to get in shape this year, said more direct nutritional advertising may be what students need to uphold healthy eating habits.
“People would probably be more aware of eating in moderation if the calories were listed right on the menus,” Gee said. “Seeing what’s actually in a Whopper would make me think twice before eating it.”
The federal government agrees with Gee. Readily available nutritional information is an issue addressed in President Barack Obama’s Health Reform Bill, signed into law last March. Under the bill, the FDA is required to establish national standards requiring restaurants with over 20 vendors to post the number of calories of each of their regular items directly on their menus, as well as a statement informing consumers of the recommended daily caloric intake. According to a December article in The Wall Street Journal,, no actual legislation has taken effect.
According to Hodshon, whether Russell House changes its menus to make calorie information more conspicuous will be irrelevant if students aren’t willing to change their eating habits and seek out healthy choices. “There should, of course, be a large concern to make healthier food more accessible to students. At the end of the day, it affects our performance and studying,” Hodshon said. “If the University is feeding us, then it’s the University’s responsibility to tell us what’s in it.”
Hodshon did not, however, rule out personal responsibility.
“Ultimately, it’s up to the student, though,” Hodshon said. “We can blame Carolina Dining for now, but if they do end up posting everything, then it’s totally the student’s responsibility.”