No peanut butter? No scrambled eggs? No milk on those Cheerios? Unless they are feeling especially inclined towards bloating, stomach aches, hives, or even more serious chronic problems, drugs are not the only things to which students with food allergies and intolerances have learned to say no. For many of these students, navigating the dining halls and restaurants around campus can be an added challenge to college life. For those living in University Housing, however, housing food services has made efforts to provide options that cater to this population.
\We made the decision five to seven years ago to take peanut oil out of everything we make here,"" said Carolyn Yanke, UW-Madison assistant food services director and registered dietician. ""We're [also] offering lactose-free milk in our convenience stores now because residents have refrigerators in their rooms.""
UW-Madison fifth-year senior Gene Chyou, who is a lactose-intolerant house fellow living in university housing, said although lactose-free milk is a nice option to have, it does not live up to Babcock's real thing.
""It's OK, but it tastes different than regular milk,"" he said. ""It's sweeter because the lactose has been broken down into glucose and galactose and both of those are sweeter sugars.""
Chyou also admitted it can be difficult to completely eliminate such a staple food product entirely. ""Sometimes I'll just drink a glass of regular milk for the taste and know I'm just going to have to take the hit,"" he said.
Students dealing with food allergies may be luckier than their ""intolerant"" peers. According to Michael Ritter, assistant clinical professor in the department of pediatrics, allergy and immunology at UW-Madison, allergies are actually the result of an immunological mechanism, while intolerances simply mean the body does not make a certain protein.
In someone like Chyou suffering from lactose intolerance, the body fails to make adequate amounts of lactose, the enzyme used to break down lactose (milk sugar). Common reactions to excessive dairy intake are far from pleasant.
""I have to avoid the ice cream line a lot, and no cereal and milk,"" Chyou said. ""Otherwise ... stomachaches, gas, diarrhea.""
Thus, there are many students with food allergies and intolerances who have an additional homework assignment as they navigate college life with the rest of us.
But, UW-Madison student services tries to help students as much as possible, even beginning the process of working with students with allergies when they come to Student Orientation, Registration and Advising the summer before their freshman year.
""Well, if students come to SOAR their freshman year, usually parents tell us about their student's allergies,"" said Claire Chauvette, one of three food service managers at Elizabeth Waters Hall.
However, Chauvette also said students with allergies or intolerances can come to the food service employees and ask for special meals and/or specific requirements as to what they can eat.
""We put up signs with ingredients for foods we know many students may have an allergy,"" Chauvette said. ""Like we know many students are allergic to nuts so we include the ingredients with a sign that says, 'contains nuts,' so that students know.""
Chauvette also mentioned if students make special requests ahead of time, food services will try to comply with their needs. However, Ritter suggests other options.
""The only effective treatment is to avoid the food,"" Ritter said, ""but people can learn to anticipate, be good label readers and know the words that are associated with problem foods.""
In addition to offering new products, housing food services also has all ingredient and nutrition information for their foods available on the web and in the dining halls. Yanke said this information is updated twice every year to adjust for recipe changes.
""Ultimately though, they have to be responsible,"" she said. ""They have to know what they can and cannot eat.""
