For anyone who has nutrition questions, food allergies, food intolerances, or dietary restrictions and is eating at a Yale Hospitality location
Helping Yalies eat well is our priority. To eat safely, with peace of mind, is equally important.
Students work closely with our Registered Dietitian to ensure their wide range of dietary needs are met. Our team also collaborates with dining managers and cooks, dietitians at the Yale Health Plan, and Student Accessibility Services, to accommodate everything from serious food allergies or medical conditions to athletic training considerations, religious dietary guidelines, and lifestyle choices.
We label all menu items in the dining halls with the top nine allergens, clearly displayed on tags near each dish. Full ingredients are also available online or by scanning the QR code on the tag. To help us keep everyone safe, we ask all diners to:
- Always use a clean plate/dish when re-entering the servery.
- Use only the serving utensils provided for each dish.
- Respect the gluten-free station – including condiments and toaster – which is reserved for separate use to prevent cross-contact.
Rest assured, our culinary team members are trained in food safety and allergen-specific food preparation and will customize arrangements whenever necessary. It is our responsibility and our great privilege to support you.
Disclaimer: Dishes served in all our dining locations are prepared in kitchens that are not allergen-free. Manufacturers of commercial foods may also change their formulation without notice. While precautions are taken to ensure accurate labeling and careful preparation of foods, students and guests with food allergies are encouraged to speak with a Yale Hospitality manager if they have any questions or concerns.
All students with dietary restrictions are to go through the SAS process. Please do so as soon as possible if you have any dietary requirements, food allergies, or food intolerances. The earlier you complete this process, the better prepared the team will be to support you.
All students with dietary restrictions who need support or accommodations must follow the SAS (Student Accessibility) process. Students with food preferences or following religious guidelines should email Yale Hospitality directly. Other patrons or parents with questions can reach out via email hospitalitynutrition@yale.edu.
Register for dietary accommodations in 4 steps
Once SAS refers the student to the Yale Hospitality Registered Dietitian, the student will receive an email requesting completion of a brief survey covering additional dietary needs, as well as a link to the Yale Hospitality Registered Dietitian calendar to schedule an appointment.
- Register with Yale Student Accessibility Services (SAS) by completing the SAS Self-Identification form
- Schedule the appointment using the Yale Hospitality Registered Dietitian scheduling link provided via email
- Attend the appointment with the Yale Hospitality Registered Dietitian (appointments can be virtual or in-person)
- Once we’ve established a plan to manage your dietary needs, please stay in touch with the Yale Hospitality RD and your dining hall managers/chefs to share feedback and make any necessary adjustments, our priority is always safety first. And remember, your active involvement and feedback helps us best support you!
During the Yale Hospitality Registered Dietitian appointment, accommodations will be discussed and an individualized plan will be arranged. This plan will be executed in the student’s home college and as-needed in any of the Yale residential dining facilities.
Contact our Registered Dietitian
Please feel free to reach out to Yale Hospitality’s on- staff Registered Dietitian, Sarah Kiel. She works in tandem with Yale Health Center, Yale Athletics, and Yale Student Accessibility Services and can answer questions about our food, dietary accommodations, allergen safety, and much more.
Sarah Kiel is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) with a Diploma in Sports Nutrition from the International Olympic Committee. Over her career, she’s worked across retail grocery, corporate wellness, and higher education foodservice, giving her a rare, big-picture view of how food systems are interconnected, and how they shape both individual health and the wellbeing of entire communities.
At her core, Sarah is on a mission to cut through the noise. She loves helping people make sense of nutrition advice that can otherwise feel overwhelming or contradictory. For Sarah, good nutrition isn’t about rules or restriction—it should be delicious, doable, and something you actually enjoy, whether you’re training for a race, taking care of your everyday health, or just trying to feel better about how you eat. She’s also a strong believer in intuitive eating and loves helping people step away from restrictive diets to find a way of eating that actually feels sustainable and good.
Halal options at Yale
In collaboration with the Muslim Student Association, we’re thrilled to assist you in navigating diverse culinary offerings at Yale. Here are some details that you should keep in mind:
Meat Selection: All chicken, beef, and lamb served within our residential dining halls are sourced as Halal, unless otherwise specified. You can indulge in these options with confidence. Whenever a chicken, beef, or lamb item is served that is not Halal, dedicated signage will be posted directing students to ask about available Halal options.
Alcohol in Food: Any dishes that incorporate alcohol, such as those prepared with cooking wines like sherry and mirin, beer, or liquor, are clearly labeled as containing alcohol.
Ingredients Without Alcohol Labeling: We currently do not label soy sauce, vanilla extract, or wine vinegars as containing alcohol.
Non-Halal Enzymes and Additives: In instances involving non-halal enzymes and additives, particularly those derived from non-Halal beef or chicken stock, we encourage you to contact our dining hall management for clarification. This ensures that the dishes align with your dietary preferences and needs.
Important Clarification: Please note that these guidelines pertain exclusively to our residential dining halls and are not applicable to our retail spaces. Examples of these retail spaces include Commons, The Bow Wow, and The Elm. Should you have inquiries regarding Halal offerings in these areas, don’t hesitate to approach the manager on duty or contact Yale Hospitality.
For any additional queries, please feel free to connect with Yale Hospitality or the Muslim Student Association.
Food safety practices
At Yale Hospitality food safety practices are a top priority. We are working with employees to ensure team members follow established procedures including proper inspection, storage, and washing of food in addition to proper cleaning/sanitization of equipment and surfaces, including effective handwashing. These protocols include keeping produce separate from potential contamination sources, using dedicated cutting boards, designated prep areas, color-coded utensils, and vegetable wash when applicable.
Helpful tech features
Menu app
Yale Hospitality menus are on the Nutrislice app. Download the Nutrislice app, type in “Yale University” and see what you want to eat! The app displays in-depth nutrition information (scan the QR codes on dining hall menu ID tags to access that same information). Menus can be filtered by need and preference. There’s also a carb calculator.
Menu ID tags
There are digital menu labels in all the residential dining halls. The name of the dish is displayed as well as major allergens. There is a QR code you can scan to read more about the dish and all its nutritional details.
Yale Hospitality’s Registered Dietitian and Dining Teams support students and guests with special dietary needs. All ingredients and recipes are regularly reviewed for allergens and dining hall managers and chefs are certified in both Servsafe and AllerTrain (Menu Trinfo) to ensure safe execution of meals. Each student determines their own level of comfort when making selections in the dining halls. Ingredient and allergen information for menu items can be found on our online menus, and printed Menu Identifiers in the dining halls. We label all menu items in the dining halls with the top nine allergens, and label for vegan, vegetarian, gluten friendly, and free of the top 9 allergens clearly displayed on tags near each dish. Full ingredients are also available online or by scanning the QR code on the tag.
Our top priority is safety, but we also want you to experience the myriad of nutritious, delicious, and sustainable foods offered at Yale. Should you require individualized dietary accommodations, please register with Student Accessibility Services; a self-identification form will be provided upon registration. Once registered, Yale Hospitality’s Registered Dietitian will reach out to schedule an appointment and develop an individualized plan to meet your needs.
We label to identify recipes that are made with wheat, dairy (milk), soy, egg, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame. These are considered the nine major food allergens as recognized by the Food & Drug Administration. We also recognize our community has other common dietary restrictions. For this reason, we also label for the presence of gluten, alcohol, pork, and coconut.
While the FDA defines coconut as a tree nut, many of our students who avoid tree nuts are not sensitive to coconut. For this reason, we use a coconut icon to identify menu items that contain coconut. This could be replaced with something along the lines of, to align with FDA guidance, we no longer include coconut as a tree nut. We do still label for coconut. The FDA no longer classifies coconut as a tree nut.
We offer many delicious items that are made without gluten. Each dining hall also provides a gluten-free area with dedicated breads, cereals, spreads and snacks. Our staff are highly trained in preparing meals that reduce the risk of cross-contact. However, please know that our kitchens are not dedicated gluten-free facilities, which is why we use the term gluten-friendly to describe the dishes which are free of gluten.
The cornerstone of our operation is variety, and our customers are provided with delicious vegan and vegetarian options every day. These are dishes created and presented in ways that make them attractive to carnivores and herbivores alike.
We encourage students to enjoy meals in all our residential college dining halls. If you require any dietary accommodations, please make sure you have registered with Student Accessibility Services and have filled out the self-identification form so can ensure your needs are communicated to all dining hall managers.
Be aware of the potential for cross-contact in a self-service dining environment
Avoid foods which you are allergic or cause illness
Read menus and ingredient information prior to making food choices
Recognize symptoms of your allergic reaction and know who to tell if you might be having an allergy-related problem
Knowledge of proper treatment for your allergic reactions; always carry your epinephrine auto-injector
If you ever have questions or concerns, please contact the Registered Dietitian right away.
Please contact our Registered Dietitian for any questions or to schedule an appointment.