You Are What You Eat

If it's true that you are what you eat, what does Harvard Dining Services (HDS) make you?

HDS provides a range of food for students, including at least one healthy option at every meal.

Healthy options provide students with foods that contain less than 350 calories and less than 30 percent of the calories from fat.

An average, 170-pound male and 140 pound female should have a daily caloric intake of 1,854 and 1,374 calories respectively, not accounting for daily activity.

To calculate individual daily caloric needs, divide body weight by 2.2 to convert pounds to kilograms, multiply by a gender factor (1 for males, .9 for females) and multiply by 24.

"There should not be a problem with anyone who wants to eat healthy food. The healthy option is at least one item a meal," says Teresa T. Fung, who gives nutritional advice to Harvard students

In preparing the four million meals served annually, HDS must also meet the special needs of the 6,400 undergraduates.

"If a student has special needs, the dining halls are very accommodating," says Fung, who is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Fung publishes a weekly table tent appearing on all dining hall table tops that provides students with "recent and basic" nutrition tidbits.

The tidbits include advice on sodium intake and smart snacking. Fung suggests that students try more nutritious snacks such as pretzels or raisins rather than chips, and fruit juice with seltzer rather than soda.

HDS mostly uses a non-hydrogenated canola oil--Smart Choice--in preparing foods.

"We use [Smart Choice] for all frying, baking and cooking. Occasionally we use other oils for stir-frys and sautes," says Executive Chef D. Michael Miller.

Even French fries are bought from a specific company because they use healthier oils, according to Miller.

"All our French fries come from McCain. I picked [McCain] because they guarantee that they only use vegetable oils," he says.

Miller adds that HDS has a program with the culinary school in which dining hall chefs are taught to cook lower fat meals.

But hamburgers, veggie burgers and other grill items are fried rather than flame broiled.

"Only the Quad and Adams house have flame broilers," Miller says.

But Miller says that he is looking into adding a grilled chicken breast option at lunch and dinner.

You Are What You Eat

But while HDS offers these healthy options, some students say they still find it difficult to eat healthy.

"It's easier not to eat healthy," Sonya R. Hendren '01 says. "I eat salads, but they could have better fruit."

Karen M. Emberger '01 says that there are limited options for those who do not like the main course.

"If you don't like what is offered at a particular meal, you get stuck eating cereal and pasta. I wind up eating cereal all the time," she says.

Although HDS offers healthy options, Miller says that he believes that the dining service should not tell students what to eat.

"We're not here to tell you how to eat. Mom did that. We're just here to make choices available," he says.

HDS uses a unique computer program to provide a nutritional analysis, including fat, protein and calorie counts for almost every item that dining halls serve, Miller says.

"The software system has a module for nutritional analysis. Every time an ingredient is added to the computer, nutrition information is added. [The program] comes up with the nutritional analysis for each item," Miller says.

For example, HDS would enter the individual nutritional information for the cheese, tomato sauce, vegetables and pasta used in baking its lasagna to determine the fat and calorie content, he says.

But some students who say they try to eat healthy have noticed that some of the cards are incorrect.

"I've seen astronomical fat counts sometimes that I can't believe," says Stephen H. Caldwell '01.

Miller says he attributes these mistakes to "human error" and encourages students to bring any mistakes to his attention.

Food Glorious Food

Healthy food requires more than just a low fat and calorie count. Food safety is a constant concern among Harvard Dining Services staff.

HDS uses only USDA Choice meats, cooked medium well to 165 degrees Fahrenheit to prevent dangerous bacteria such as E. coli. The FDA recommends that ground beef reach an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit.

E. coli--the bacteria responsible for "hamburger disease"--produces a poison that damages the lining of the intestine. Common symptoms include dehydration, fever and stomach cramps, but severe complications can lead to death.

According to Miller, HDS only buys ground meats from producers in South Boston.

"I won't allow our ground meat to be made anywhere I can't see it," he says. "I sleep better at night."

Grade A poultry--which arrives at dining halls in vacuum sealed bags--is also cooked thoroughly to prevent the growth of bacteria such as Salmonella.

Some students complain, however, that HDS tends to reuse leftover food to excess, noting the potatoes from dinner turn into home fries at breakfast the next morning.

But Director of HDS Ted A. Mayer, says: "If we had roasted potatoes the night before, we would use them for home fries, wouldn't you at home?"

More perishable foods are never reused by dining services, Miller says.

"Anything that has a high protein factor: yogurt, tuna, cheese, hot food, is thrown out after every meal," he says. "In the upper class houses you'll see that they have really little [containers]. That is because we don't want to put too much out there because we dispose of everything."

While students are in and out of the kitchens, dining hall staff is continually checking food quality, Mayer says.

Dining hall staff takes the temperature of food items such as yogurt every 30 minutes.

Special trays are used to keep foods cool and to prevent bacteria growth.

"We use pans that are long, and shallow, not overflowing. This way the cold transfers better," Miller says.

Containers of sanitizers are located all around the kitchens and checked for efficacy every day, he says.

"Here they check how many parts per million in the sanitizer everyday," Miller says.

HDS hires its own consulting firm, in addition to state inspectors, according to Mayer.

"We have an outside consultant firm that goes around and does unannounced sanitation inspections," he says.

But Miller cautions that some food safety concerns are difficult to control, and are particularly worrisome during cold and flu season.

All fruit is washed before it is served, but Miller suggests that students take extra precautions and wash their fruit before eating it.

"I would suggest that you rinse it off. There are little sinks right on the line where you can do that. When I get an apple, I rinse it off," he says.

Miller says that HDS takes care to insure the best quality food for students, but the staff is not solely responsible for insuring food safety.

"People have to be responsible when they are serving themselves. Don't reach into that carrot stick pan with your hands," Miller says.

Orange You Glad About Veggie Options?

HDS offers a vegetarian option at every meal in hopes of providing the basic food groups to vegetarians as well, Miller says.

"Sometimes it's vegan, sometimes it's just meatless, but there is always plenty of other things," Miller says.

But the lack of a vegan options at every meal is a problem for some students.

"They only have vegan selections once every three days, I don't know what [vegans] do," said Heidi J. Bruggink '01, who is a vegetarian.

Even the vegetarian options can be a problem for some students.

"My main concern is that the quality of the food is low. The fruits and vegetables are low quality," says Grace S.Y. Kwak '98, who is a vegetarian.

Vandana L. Madhavan '98, who is lactovegetarian--she does not eat meat, fish, poultry or eggs--says she would like to see more mainstream vegetarian options.

"I appreciate the fact that they try, but they play along the stereotypes that vegetarians eat a lot of tofu. I kind of wish they'd go toward more mainstream things," she says.

Bruggink says that the choices are usually good, but agrees that HDS serves too much tofu.

"They have savory baked tofu way too often," she says.

Other Ivy League schools give more options than HDS to their vegetarian and vegan students.

At Yale, a lacto-ovo vegetarian and vegan option is available at every meal, according to Karen J. Dougherty, executive dietician at Yale. A lacto-ovo-vegetarian does not eat meat products, and a vegan does not eat meat, eggs or dairy products.

"At breakfast, soy milk is one of our standard items. At the unit that serves hot breakfast, we have pancakes and French toast that can be made with soy milk," Dougherty says. TYPES OF VEGETARIAN DIETS There are many strains of vegetarianism, and each variation carries its own restrictions. Type  Prohibited Foods Lactovegetarian  Meat, fish, poultry, eggs Lacto-ovo-vegetarian  Meat, fish, poultry Semivegetarian  Meat, but may include small amounts of fish and poultry in the diet Vegan  Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy Source: Dingott, M.S., R.D., Susan and Johanna Dwyer, Sc. D., R.D. Vegetarianism: Healthful but Unnecessary. Quackwatch, 1997.