Otago University hall stops serving special dietary requirement food after label mishap
Otago University is not serving any special dietary requirement food to live-in students while an investigation is underway.
Photo:
RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Caterers providing meals for live-in students at an Otago University hall have stopped serving food to those with special dietary requirements while an investigation is carried out.
The university said on 6 June a Te Rangihīroa College resident with an egg allergy ate a slice of cake at lunchtime which was incorrectly labelled as not containing eggs.
It said it had brought in an independent consultant and the Ministry of Primary Industries was investigating its procedures around managing food allergies.
RNZ has seen a message addressed to hall residents via social media that advised those with allergens could no longer be catered for by the hall for an unknown period of time.
The message said they would instead need to have their breakfast, lunch and dinner meals in the nearby St Margaret's College, and a van had been scheduled to take students there during meal times.
Te Rangihīroa College is one of 11 residential colleges managed by the university, while St Margaret's College is one of four university-affiliated colleges, governed independently.
Otago University acting chief operating officer Jared Hayes confirmed Te Rangihīroa was not preparing or serving any special dietary requirement food while the university worked through what had happened.
"St Margaret's is an independent college and has helpfully agreed to provide our special dietary students with food until the situation has been resolved. There was a van provided to help students get to St Margaret's," he said.
"They had breakfast at St Margaret's, but individually wrapped meals are now being brought into Te Rangihīroa to reduce the impact on students."
Hayes said the arrangement would last "as long as is necessary".
Students with special dietary needs at Te Rangihīroa make up about 30 of the 450 residents.
Hayes said the university accepted blame for the incident.
"It is very disappointing and regrettable that this incident has occurred. We have policies and processes in place to prevent this," he said.
"This was an unfortunate incident of human error. There was an error in declaring the ingredients in a food item.
"College and University leadership met with the student to discuss the situation and their wellbeing. We remain in close contact with them and are continuing to provide support."
A Te Rangihīroa resident told RNZ students with the special dietary requirements were initially being served food after the incident, but those students would have to wait around an hour longer than others.
Hayes said arrangements had to be made at short notice to feed those students while the university got a full understanding of the situation.
Some students had expressed concern about the situation, which the university understood, he said.
"An email has been sent to all affected students offering assistance to apply for special consideration for exams if they believe this is necessary," he said.
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