Health inspectors have found dozens of health code violations in West Virginia University dining halls this academic year, some of them repeat infractions. The facilities are managed and operated by Sodexo, an international corporation headquartered in France.
Thousands of WVU students eat at the dining halls every day. In one kitchen, inspectors found a freezer at 94 degrees emitting a “very strong odor.” In another, they found “visible mold growth” in a pop machine and oil leaking onto the walls.
WVU officials said Sodexo staff will go through additional training and they are planning to hire a full-time food safety specialist by the end of the week.
Health inspectors have visited Café Evansdale, WVU’s largest residential dining facility, six times since September 2021 and observed 34 health code violations, according to publicly available reports from the Monongalia County Health Department (MCHD).
Three of the six inspections were follow-up visits and one was the result of a complaint.
In September, inspectors went to Cafe Evansdale and found bacon stored in a cooler that was at 62 degrees. During the same inspection, three other coolers were above 45 degrees and their contents were removed.
The next month, inspectors followed up and reported that the violations had been corrected.
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Inspectors visited the dining hall again on Nov. 4 after receiving a complaint and discovered a “substantial amount” of dirty dishes in places other than the dish wash area. There was also broken dishwashing equipment.
Inspectors warned that the dirty dishes could attract “undesirable insects” and asked dining hall management to submit an action plan to prevent future build-ups.
The inspectors visited the dining hall again two weeks later on Nov. 17 and found that the dirty dishes were still piling up around the kitchen. The action plan had not been submitted but management said they had just hired a person for the dish wash area.
Two weeks later on Nov. 30 inspectors wrote that the violation had been corrected.
Café Evansdale located inside of Towers at 356 Evansdale Dr.
Rylan Nemesh
Last Friday, inspectors found over a dozen health violations during a visit to the dining hall which serves thousands of meals every day.
“The ice dispenser had visible mold growth for the pop machine,” inspectors observed, adding that several utensils and containers were not properly cleaned and the hood vents above the grill were “leaking oil down the sides of the wall.”
Personal drinks were stored above food items, sauce was left in an open container, opened cantaloupe was not dated and the thermometer in the pizza area cooler was damaged, inspectors observed last week at the popular eatery.
“Obviously, we would love to have a clean report and not have any violations,” Erin Newmeyer, WVU assistant vice president of Strategic Initiatives, said in an interview. “With a kitchen as large as it is over at Evansdale, it’s probably unrealistic.”
“So we’re really focused on making sure that we’re doing the things that are the highest priority. And if a dirty spoon gets put next to a clean spoon, it’s minimal compared to making sure somebody doesn’t end up with a foodborne illness.”
WVU’s Summit Café, a dining facility advertised as “a favorite of freshmen,” was inspected three times since August 2021, and health officials observed 24 health code violations.
“The freezer in the storage room was at 94 degrees, product was inside and a very strong odor was noticed inside,” inspectors wrote in September of this past year. “Product has been in the freezer compartment for many days, the product has to immediately be removed from the freezer.”
Other violations included expired food items and a leaking orange juice machine.
Health inspectors last visited Hatfields, WVU’s newest dining hall, in October 2021 and found six health code violations, including a leaky sink and moldy ceiling tiles. The violations were minor in comparison to other dining locations on campus.
Hatfields has not received a health inspection yet this calendar year.
The health department inspects all food facilities twice per year, except for temporary establishments which are inspected when they are set up. The department said restaurants can be inspected more frequently due to poor history of violations.
Health code violations are classified in one of three ways by the county: priority, priority foundation and core. Priority violations are typically corrected during an inspection.
Kirk Powroznik, WVU environmental health and safety specialist, said his department is responsible for identifying possible health violations across campus before the Monongalia Health Department makes routine inspections.
“I try to get into all the facilities at least every semester for sure and then if a complaint comes up or anything like that,” Powroznik said, adding that he revisits facilities if needed, such as after an academic break.
Newmeyer said she usually asks Powroznik to visit facilities every other month.
Stephen Miller, vice president for Sodexo Operations, said he visits the dining facilities at least once a quarter and examines kitchens with local management.
Evan Jacobson, Sodexo general manager of resident dining, said staff are required to measure and record temperatures of food on the line every two hours. He said staff are being trained on how to properly use a thermometer and will begin to record temperatures every 30 minutes.
Many of the violations observed by inspectors were of coolers with high temperatures.
Jacobson said staff check cooler temperatures in the morning and at night. He said management talks with staff members about food safety on a daily basis.
Miller said a Sodexo regional safety director will visit WVU this week and a full-time health specialist will be hired later this week.
In March, the WVU Board of Governors extended Sodexo’s contract with the University until 2033, as reported by the Charleston Gazette-Mail. WVU first began outsourcing food services to the company in 2018.
To have unlimited meals at any campus dining hall costs students just under $2,800 a semester. For 10 meals a week (the least expensive plan), they pay roughly $2,300 a semester.
The University requires all students who live in campus residence halls to purchase a dining plan.
Each year, Sodexo is required to pay WVU a “minimum guaranteed commission” out of its total revenue. As of September 2020, that amount was just under $6 million.
“The three years that we’ve been in partnership have been three tough years,” said Newmeyer, the WVU official. “The first year is a transition year, and then we’ve had two years of COVID. So we know that this is not exactly ideal. This is not where we want to be long term. We’ve got lots of work to do. But we’re all at the table, willing to put in that work and hope to continue to build trust and transparency with the students.”
Dining and Cooking