Health and Nutrition
Ask a Dietitian
Do you have specific questions about allergens or other special dietary needs? Our dietitian can help! Email dining@ualberta.ca with the subject "Ask a Dietitian" or send your question to us on social media with the hashtag #askDSdietitian.
Interactive Menus
Counting your calories or minding your macros? Digital screens in Lister Residence and Peter Lougheed Hall display interactive menus-complete with information about nutrition and allergens. Or, check out our menus online and click on the location of your choice to see a complete list of ingredients for each dish.
Dietary Labelling Program
Do you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet? Do you only eat Halal foods? Do you eat no gluten?
We've got you covered. Digital screens in Lister Residence and Peter Lougheed Hall (PLH) display interactive menus complete with information about nutrition and allergens. Our menu labeling program makes it easy to find options with these six attributes.
Here are the icons:
Identifies menu items that fit a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet
- Excludes: all meat, fish, and poultry
- Includes: eggs, milk, dairy, honey
Identifies foods made from plant-based food items only:
- Excludes: Eggs, Honey, Milk & Dairy, and any other animal-derived ingredients
Seafood ingredients third-party certified as sustainably sourced Wild Seafood: Marine Stewardship Council, Ocean Wise Farmed Seafood: Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP 1,2,3, or 4 stars)
Identifies major ingredients that are grown, raised or produced in Alberta
Identifies menu items that are made without gluten ingredients
Identifies single ingredients or recipes that only contain:
- Halal certified proteins
- Halal permitted foods
- Excludes all Haram products
- Third party certification are available
Menu items that incorporate more plant-based ingredients such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, pulses, nuts and seeds. Plant forward is not necessarily vegan or vegetarian and can include small amounts (< 2 oz.) of animal protein.
To learn more about how Dining Services can accommodate your dietary needs, contact us at dining@ualberta.ca. You can also make an appointment to walk through our food stations with our dietitian and executive chef!
Gluten Free Pantry
In order to comply with AHS COVID guidelines, all self service stations are temporarily closed. To access Gluten Free menu items, please set up an appointment with our Registered Dietitian by emailing dining@ualberta.ca. A one-to-one interview will be scheduled to review your dietary needs and provide guidance as to which stations will offer gluten free menu items.
Get the Good Stuff
One of the biggest challenges when trying to make healthy lifestyle choices is eating outside of your home. How many calories is that sandwich? How much fat is in that sauce? It can be hard to know if you're making the right choice.
At Dining Services, we're working hard to make it easier for you to find healthier, more environmentally friendly, sustainably sourced food. We call this the good stuff. Our Get the Good Stuff logo is a simple, easily identifiable system that will help guide you towards these options.
Look for the Get the Good Stuff logo at locations all across campus, from the Lister Dining Hall and Peter Lougheed Hall (PLH) dining hall to our Express program in various retail locations, for options that fit many of the following criteria:
Nutrition Criteria
Entrees may have 3 or more of the following qualities:
- 500 calories or less
- Under 10g fat
- Under 960mg sodium (sandwiches)
- Under 720mg sodium (entrees)
- Made with whole grains
- Loaded with veggies
- 300 calories or less
- Under 5g fat
- Under 480mg sodium
- Made with whole grains
- Loaded with veggies
- Vegetarian/vegan
- No gluten ingredients
- Sustainably sourced seafood
- Made with 100% Canadian Ingredients
Food Safety
Dining Services takes health and safety very seriously. We monitor and log cooking, reheating and cooling temperatures. We have strict protocol in place to keep our food preparation areas and food service areas clean. If you have health or safety concerns about one of our locations, please contact us immediately at dining@ualberta.ca.
- The day, time and location of the incident. For example, Monday May 21, 2019 at Tim Hortons, CAB at 11:35am.
- The incident and a picture if possible
- And any more relevant information you can provide
When an incident is reported, management informs the public health inspector, conducts a food safety audit and follows up with the results.
Health and Safety Measures
Your health and safety is our priority
We want you and our campus community to stay safe, so we've implemented strict safety protocols for people eating and working in our dining hall.
Cleaning standards
We follow general safety precautions and high cleaning standards to disinfect common areas and high touch points.
Staff protocols
All our staff will use PPE during their work shift including facial coverings, and we have a strict screening process where employee temperatures are taken daily.
Hand sanitization
Students are required to sanitize their hands before entering the dining halls and are encouraged to frequently sanitize while dining. Sanitation stations are available at the entrance of the dining hall and throughout the seating area.