EUGENE, Ore. -- (Jan. 31, 2011) -- How many calories are in a smoothie from DUX Bistro? Is there a gluten-free salad dressing at Carson Dining? Where can a vegetarian with a peanut allergy eat in the University of Oregon residence halls?
Responding to students' hunger for nutrition information, the UO's housing dining services launches a new online service on Feb. 1.
Starting Tuesday, anyone can go online for detailed nutritional and ingredient information for foods served in the dining venues of University Housing: Carson Dining, Barnhart Dining, Fire ‘N' Spice Grill, Big Mouth Burrito, Grab ‘N' Go Marketplace, Common Grounds Café and DUX Bistro.
The site http://uoregon.mynutritioncalculator.net/ allows users to select the type of meal, restaurant location and a host of food options to see nutritional content like calories, fat grams, sodium, vitamins and nutritional allowances. Website visitors can also search for food allergens (dairy, nuts, soy, etc.) or for vegan and vegetarian foods, and look for foods within certain ranges of nutritional content (i.e. low in sugar, high in protein, high in iron, etc.).
A free mobile app of the service for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is available from Apple by looking up "Oregon nutrition" in the App Store. University Housing expects to develop versions for other mobile platforms in the future.
"This is something students have really been asking for," said Tom Driscoll, director of food services for University Housing. "We fill requests for new menu items all the time; now we're serving up information."
The site will start with many of the most popular items from the seven dining venues, and gradually add information for more menu items until virtually all of the offerings are covered.
Promoting choices is a cornerstone of University Housing's dining operation: a mix of favorites and comfort foods with plenty of healthy options and menu items to meet a variety of dietary demands.
"Our students are increasingly more health-conscious," Driscoll said. "We want to not only give them what they want to eat, we want to help them learn about what they put into their bodies and help them make informed decisions."
University Housing operates the campus residence halls, home to some 3,700 students, mostly in their first year at the UO. The residence hall dining venues serve not only residents, but faculty, staff, visitors and community members throughout the year.
For more information on University Housing dining services and venues, visit http://housing.uoregon.edu/dining/
MEDIA CONTACT: Kelly McIver, marketing manager, University Housing, 541-346-2672, kmciver@uoregon.edu
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