Last month, Student Life published an article by Kelly Seranko, who informed us that the online nutrition information for numerous campus menu items is either misleading or simply absent. According to Seranko’s article, Dining Services appears to be in the process of rectifying this, but I still cannot detect any noticeable improvement made since then, despite the fact that I visit menus.wustl.edu every day. No matter what is causing this delay, the accurate nutrition facts need to be posted as soon as possible.

In 2008, during my freshman year, an item called “Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich on Banana Bread” sat amid the pre-packed items on the stands of Holmes Lounge, Whispers and the old Bear Mart and was enjoyed by many students. I ate it a few times as well, though one thing about it bothered me: There were no nutrition facts online. I soon abstained from this item which, after the item’s nutrition info was posted later in the year, proved to be one of the smartest decisions I have made here. I found myself in awe of these remarkable numbers—so much so that I recall them even two years later.

1366 Calories
98% daily saturated fat
150% daily overall fat
103 grams of sugar (almost twice the daily value)

You probably share my awe, or are at least thinking, “Huh?” Either you are not a health watcher, or you are a ridiculous metabolizer. This is not even several slices of large pizza; rather, in two palm-sized slices of banana bread with some peanut butter and jam spread on them, you have approximately two-thirds of your daily energy need along with a bunch of crap. The fact that 400 calories were present from simple sugar and almost 900 from fat drove many who ate this bomb regularly into a state of panic, and rightly so. Those who indulged in two of these on some select days understandably went berserk.

Admitting such a problem in the first place is one issue, but the failure to publicize the nutrition information before the item went on the menu is an even bigger one. Once Dining Services took action in the 2008-2009 school year, however belatedly, people were able to determine whether or not to spend 4 ½ of their precious meal points so that they could mourn their overweight selves in the future. Returning to Wash. U. after 2 years of leave, I am happy not to spot this item on campus any longer. I am not happy, though, along with many others, to see that so many food items are still missing their nutrition fact counterparts online. To me, this is an issue.

Lest history repeat itself, Dining Services needs to learn from Seranko’s article. The wrong or misleading data needs to be fixed, unless we are to believe the claim of “Favorites” under “Holmes Lounge” on menus.wustl.edu that brownies, muffins, Eddie’s donuts and scones seriously have 0 calories and no fat or sugar. Under “Campus Menu Favorites”—the alternative page the web directs us to surf for the facts about the above snacks—one simply cannot find the data. This isn’t good enough. Missing information needs to be updated. Dining Services really has no excuse not to list the data for muffins or scones. These have been around forever. A lot (too many to even consider listing) of pre-packed items lack nutrition data as well. For newly added menu items, the data should be posted before they get on the stands and should stay on the web until such items are no longer served.

Though the broad range of menu availability is appreciated, and the difficulty this poses on prompt nutrition information is understandable, we must know what we’re eating. I trust that hardly any of us would fancy finding out belatedly that we’ve been putting into our body another version of the PB&J on Banana Bread—if it hasn’t happened already. The information on the Hummus Wrap with Mint Cucumber Relish (sounds healthy?)—1095 Calories, 92% daily sodium, 103% daily fat, etc.—was updated only two weeks ago. Health watchers who have eaten this without knowledge of the health information, you have my sympathy.