TOLEDO, Ohio — Lauren Henry, a sophomore at the University of Toledo, said she was blindsided Tuesday when her mom texted her that the school's dining halls have received multiple serious health code violations from the Toledo-Lucas County Heath Department.
"I take so much pride in going to this university, I'm so happy to go here, but it's really disappointing to hear," Henry said.
The health department's reports, stretching from October 2021 to February of this year, show dozens of critical and non-critical violations at various on-campus eateries. Some of those violations include the presence of live insects, rodents and other pests, as well as raw hamburger patties sitting in the food prep sink at dangerous temperatures.
Christine Billau, the deputy director of communications for University of Toledo, wrote in a statement that the issues were taken care of.
"We were able to confirm that there were no concerns in our food production or food serving areas. The actions directed by the health department allowed us to quickly resolve the issue in the other areas of our dining operations," Billau wrote.
However, documents from health department's most recent follow up with the student union dining hall on Feb. 9, say that it again told school employees to address a continuous cockroach infestation. Again, the university says the violations are taken care of.
Henry says the most shocking part of this for her is that the school knew about these ongoing issues for months, but students just found out this week because students stumbled upon the public health records.
"This has been a long-term issue but it was never addressed to us at students, the students who live on campus, and the students who have meal plans. We had no idea until a couple of days ago. So that communication wasn't there," Henry said.
Students voiced their frustrations on social media about the violations, with one anonymous user on the social media app, Yik Yak, writing:
"@utoledo I want my money back since ya'll got roaches in dining halls. I didn't pay all of this money for you to have INSECTS in my food."
Another student, Noah Volz, Tweeted, "I'm paying for a $2,500 meal plan each semester for this?", and attached photos from the Oct. 8, 2021, report and the Jan. 21, 2022, report.
Currently, a meal plan for this coming fall semester costs $2,269, according to the University of Toledo's website.
Henry says for many students, meal plans are their only option.
"It kind of makes you not trust the university. We're living in a world where right now so many things are changing so fast, and the one thing you want to be able to trust is your food," Henry said.
Henry said she'll keep eating on campus because she has to, but she just hopes that by bringing attention to the issue, the university will make certain that these violations never happen again.