Since New York started handing out letter grades with their Department of Health inspections, a number of college cafeterias have been performing quite poorly and students and their parents are not amused. Today the Times catches up with the story, and though the schools are rushing to fix things ("We let the students down,” one admin said) it is too little, too late for some. Why bother with school food, these kids want their Five Guys, and they want it now! more ›

Health Department inspections at three of Fordham University's dining facilities last month revealed a (dirty) laundry list of violations, including "evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas, 'filth flies,' and not storing hot food items above 140 degrees Fahrenheit and cold food items below 41 degrees Fahrenheit." Two things to note here: The cafeterias are operated by Sodexo, a French multinational corporation that has previously been fined by the NY State Attorney General and that is now contracted to run concessions at the soulless new Coney Island. Second: Fordham students are as outraged as they are unsurprised, and they say they've found all sorts of weird stuff in their food. more ›

Over the past few years a change has been occurring in New York's public school cafeterias. Gone are the mystery meats and pastas with ketchup, they've been replaced by salad bars and whole-grain pastas—a point hammered home by the Times this weekend. But what exactly is in the food that the Department of Education is serving its young charges? That is none of you business, for now. While the DoE currently offers a PDF of all of the nutritional information in the food it serves, that does not include a list of ingredients (an important oversight in this age of scary food allergies). Last Friday Gotham Schools noticed a loophole in the DoE's website that allowed the curious to access not just the nutritional info but also each item's list of ingredients. Within hours from posting a story about it the site was once again locked away from public viewing. more ›

In what seems to be part of a trend of awkward, possibly offensive corporate cafeteria menus, Citigroup is the latest company to raise some eyebrows with its staff Black History Month meal. Last year, ?uestlove of The Roots raised questions about a Black History Month meal in the NBC cafeteria, which featured fried chicken, collard greens, corn bread, black eyed peas. The drummer tweeted about it, and the sign announcing the menu was quickly removed. Now it's Citi's turn to backpedal! more ›

An NBC employee here in New York broadcasted the network's cafeteria menu from earlier today over the Twitter waves. To celebrate Black History Month, they were offering up a delicious selection of fried chicken, collard greens, corn bread, black eyed peas, etc. But then two hours later the sign was mysteriously removed, leaving diners with a grilled chicken option. It's unclear what could have possibly prompted NBC to change course (ahem, ?uestlove), but we hear employees are excited for St. Patrick's Day, when the commissary will serve Irish Car Bombs. [via Max Silvestri] more ›

After suspicious pasta salad (allegedly) took out fifteen New York Times employees who ate it in the paper's cafeteria, The Daily Finance had the bright idea to peruse the health inspection records of the Gray Lady's fancy office eatery. While the cafeteria's most recent inspection resulted in 10 violation points (lower than the city-wide average of 14 points), it's a horse of a different putrid color over at their printing plant in Queens. In February of last year it was cited for "evidence of roaches or live roaches in food and/or non-food areas," "conditions conducive to vermin" and improperly installed or maintained plumbing, earning it 18 violation points. That's not enough to shut it down, but apparently the Times thinks that's good enough for their blue collar workers. more ›

Fifteen New York Times employees are ill after eating suspicious pasta salad from the paper's cafeteria. The Health Department has closed the dining room while it investigates whether the sick staffers got food poisoning there. "While we do not know if the cause is food-related, as a precaution, we are closing the cafeteria for the day," said a Times editor in an email to the New York Daily News. All sick employees are urged to come forward, so that the culprit can quickly be identified. The Gray Lady says its stomach pain sufferers are in fine condition, and getting better. more ›

This town is crawling with mice and rats and terrifying mutant cockroaches, so it's funny WABC "Eyewitness News" is so shocked to find the city school system has a bit of a rodent problem. The fact that school lunch is unappetizing isn't exactly flashing-siren news, but this is revolting nonetheless: Records obtained through Freedom of Information show that 545 school cafeterias had one or more critical health violations, and about one-third of those violations were for mice and mice droppings. Perhaps student Jose Rodriguez said it best: "Nasty. It's disgusting, but it's really not surprising." more ›

Yesterday suspiciously perky cooking celebrity Rachael Ray, Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, City Council speaker Christine C. Quinn and other government officials held a press event at P.S. 89/I.S. 289 in Tribeca to preview a new menu that Ray created for NYC public schools. On Thursday, 600,000 students, from kindergartners to 12th graders, will have the option to sample the menu Ray developed: whole-wheat flatbread with roasted chicken, a ratatouille-style stew with beans, and corn salad on top. (Plus a side of broccoli.) But yesterday there was also a side of cockroach! more ›