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Special Dietary Needs
Nourish

Carnegie Mellon Launches

arnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., has had
Ctremendous success with Nourish, a new commissary
kitchen preparing foods free of the top food allergens.
“It has been in our strategic thinking for a couple of years
now that with the increase of students with allergen sensitivi-
ties, not just gluten intolerances, but allergens in general, as
a dining program, in partnership with [foodservice provider]
CulinArt, we have looked to solve this challenge that many
campuses face,” said Pascal Petter, director of Dining Services
for Student Affairs. “There was a small prep kitchen that
CulinArt operated, which we thought was an ideal location
to convert to an allergen-friendly kitchen. It has been in the
works for a couple of years. Of course, we have partnered
with Health Services as well, who works with a lot of our
students when it come to allergens. This was our way of fixing
the challenges that many students face.”
Nourish prepares allergen-free items for the school’s grab
’n go program and also offers students the opportunity to order
allergen-free items using the GET platform from CBORD and
pick their orders up directly at the location. “They are able
to order online,” said Victor Schmidt, executive chef with
CulinArt Group, the campus foodservice provider responsible
for running the kitchen. “They pre-pay and then they pick up
their food prepared from the place.”
Patrons do not enter the kitchen when picking up their
orders. “It is set up that the kitchen doors are closed at all
times,” said Petter. “We put in a Dutch door, so that part can
be opened up as students pick up their meals via our online
ordering system. Once that order is placed, they come to our
Cohen University Center and pick up the meal after some time.”
In addition to the Dutch door, a number of safety measures
were enacted to avoid cross contact from the beginning. “It
was a pre-existing space,” said Schmidt. “It was completely
modified with all-new equipment. The university made a won-
derful investment in the equipment layout in this space. Before
we opened it, we swab-tested every possible contact surface
for any protein you can think of. You swab it for
protein, because the allergen is contained in the
protein. If it is protein-free, it is allergen-free. We
also have a monthly protocol where we swab for
all eight top allergens and check food samples
monthly as well. We do have a protocol in place
to verify that our space is free of those allergens.”
Precautions are also taken for any supplies
entering the kitchen. “We have a staging area
where all of the product that comes through the
door goes to this preliminary space to make sure
that it is vetted and that it is the correct product,”
Chia Pudding and Coconut Parfait he said. “From that space, it goes up into the
kitchen. There is a segue for the products to
come into stage two before they actually go
“This is not a decision made for profitability. into the space as an added level of security.”
The kitchen features a variety of equip-
The decision was made for responsibility.” ment including a flattop griddle, four-burner induction cooker,
a fryer, two combi ovens and a blast chiller. “One piece of
— Victor Schmidt, executive chef with CulinArt Group equipment that you won’t find in other kitchens is a unit that

18 | NOVEMBER 2017 ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY