SU seeks to improve MacHall food labelling

By Fabian Mayer, June 11 2015 —

The Students’ Union will push MacHall’s food vendors to disclose ingredient lists.

The concept was a central part of arts representative Shubir Shaikh’s platform during the SU election. He said many groups on campus want more information about what they’re putting into their bodies when they eat in MacHall.

“They would like to know what kind of food ingredients our food vendors in MacHall are using,” Shaikh said. “My goal is to offer a solution to these student groups.”

The issue personally affects Shaikh, who only eats halal food. He believes the platform point played a big role in his election.

“I think it did resonate with students,” Shaikh said. “If students didn’t feel this is an important issue I don’t think they would have voted for me.”

SU vice-president operations and finance Sarah Pousette said better food labelling has been a long-time concern of the SU.

“People are more concerned about where their food comes from,” Pousette said. “It’s been a trend over the last few years on campus and it’s something we know we want to figure out how to address.”

Pousette said the growing concerns of students amount to greater awareness around dietary restrictions, increased health consciousness and diversity on campus.

“We know that this is a concern students have. The biggest hurdle would be figuring out the mechanism,” Pousette said.

Pousette added that any additional labelling is voluntary. The SU cannot force food vendors to participate in this initiative and Pousette does not know when MacHall’s food vendors will provide more information about their food.

“We are just in the process of figuring out the way to communicate best to students what those options are,” Pousette said.