When senior Jeremy Crawford ate lunch at the Great Hall Tuesday, he purchased what he thought was a meat-free meal-rice and collard greens.
But after taking a bite of his vegetables, Crawford, a vegetarian, said he distinctly tasted meat.
"I approached who I think was a manager in the Great Hall and asked him to clarify the ingredients in the dishes for me," Crawford wrote in an e-mail. "He was able to tell me immediately that [the greens] were seasoned with bacon grease."
After consulting with the chefs who prepared the meals, the manager told Crawford that the rice dish, which he said sometimes contains meat and sometimes does not, was indeed flavored with meat, Crawford said.
He added that he had not knowingly eaten pork products in a long time.
Use of meat products in preparation is an issue with national resonance. In 2002, McDonald's was sued by consumers on the basis that it implied french fries were a vegetarian option when in fact, they were seasoned with beef extract.
Similarly, the absence of visible, listed ingredients in meals served at the Great Hall and other eateries has angered many vegetarians on campus.
"Right now, [Duke Dining Services] are marking what is vegetarian and what is vegan, but I personally don't trust their knowledge," said junior Dina Graves, president of Plan V-Duke's vegetarian club-and a Recess staff member. "I would much rather them just list the ingredients to a specific dish and let us decide for ourselves what is vegetarian in it and what is not."
But Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst said the Great Hall allows dining employees to add a personal twist or flavor to some recipe items as they are cooking.
"In the South, there is a tendency to use fat and bacon grease in the cooking processes," he said. "That is likely what happened in this situation."
Graves, however, said campus eateries should not take something that is vegan or vegetarian and change it in such a way to incorporate animal products. With so few vegetarian dishes for students on campus, they should not be lessening the options, she added.
"It's completely unnecessary and absurd that they would do something like this," Graves said. "Why corrupt something that is so obviously vegetarian?"
Although meals in the Great Hall are individually made and vary daily, Wulforst said Dining Services works hard to present information about food accurately.
"I think we do a pretty good job labeling our foods as what they are, and this may have been a miss," he said. "It's not a habit of ours... to misrepresent what we're serving."
But students like Crawford said they are unsatisfied with the lack of attention being paid to vegetarians on campus.
In addition, he said leaving ingredients unlisted poses a greater problem for students with allergies or certain religious beliefs.
"The fact that Dining Services isn't working to prevent this type of thing from happening is both culturally insensitive and a health hazard," Crawford said. "Students who live on campus are required to have campus dining plans, so Dining Services should feel obligated to make sure that... students are aware of what they are eating."
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