This summer, dozens of products were recalled across the U.S. for contamination and disease, with Taylor Farms’ iceberg lettuce and jalepeño products making international headlines. Coming back to Bates this year, I was curious about whether or not the recalls are affecting the college. After all, Commons needs to provide a large group of students, faculty and staff with high-quality food.
Bates DCCE spends approximately $70,000 to $80,000 on groceries each week. According to an article published by Bates News in 2024, one day they recorded as many as 4,789 meals.
In an interview with the Bates Student, Christine Schwartz, Dining Conferences and Campus Events (DCCE) associate vice president, noted that institutional processing uses a different production line than store products. Though they’re buying in bulk, institutional processing usually has fewer contamination issues.
Commons, for example, works with a vendor called North Center, which tracks recalls and immediately notifies Bates should any arise. Schwartz said, “In fact, Commons typically knows before the general public.”
The DCCE team takes additional precautions to ensure food is safe: they sample everything prepped during the day, just in case. They track every food item, date, label and tag in spreadsheets. Menus and purchasing reports are also tracked carefully to quickly narrow down any issues.
Even so, slip-ups occur. Schwartz told me about a time during COVID when around 100 people came down with the same illness. After careful questioning, the DCCE team discovered they all ate a similar meal that day.
The Commons team sprang into action: they traced the issue back to a specific peanut sauce and contacted the Federal Department of Agriculture. The agency took the sauce sample back to its labs for testing. The FDA found traces of Salmonella in the peanuts because they were incorrectly roasted over a fire before arriving at Bates.
For students, the takeaway is simple: if a recall touches Commons, DCCE likely knew before the news did. And if something you ate doesn’t taste tight, telling staff (and the Health Center) helps them trace it.
