Special Needs
Cal Dining is committed to helping our customers with their dietary needs. Whether you have food allergies, religious dietary restrictions or simply need particular guidance or assistance with your food selections, Cal Dining can provide the resources to help you make delicious choices, safely and easily.
Students can set up a meeting with the general manager and chef of their dining commons by asking for the manager or chef in the unit or e-mailing dining@berkeley.edu.

Allergies or Restrictions
Alcohol
Dairy/lactose
Eggs
Wheat/Gluten
Nut
Peanut
Fish/Shellfish
Pork

Food Allergies
A food allergy is defined as a disorder of the body's immune system in response to specific food proteins. Food allergy symptoms can range in severity from the discomfort associated with mild lactose intolerance to the occasionally fatal anaphylaxis associated with some extreme nut allergies.
The most common food allergies among adults are milk, eggs, shellfish, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, soy wheat and alcohol. Often, these items are hidden ingredients in food recipes and special care must be taken to avoid them. Please review the resources section in order to learn tips to manage allergies at Cal Dining.
More information about food allergies can be found at www.foodallergy.org
Cal Dining is a member of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis network. View College Guidelines here.

Religious Dietary Restrictions
Certain religious practices restrict dietary intake and necessitate close attention to recipe ingredients. The most commonly restricted foods are certain types of meat, fish and dairy. As indicated below, a comprehensive food labeling system is under development in order to easily identify the use of such foods.
If your religious or cultural customs require close attention to diet, please review the resources section in order to learn how to identify food ingredients of Cal Dining recipes.

Resources
Currently, Cal Dining is working to develop a comprehensive system of labeling food items that contain common allergens. Until the new identification system is completed, customers can request review of the Cal Dining recipe books to determine food ingredients. The recipe books are located in each of residential hall dining commons and can be provided by the cashiers.

To address further questions about special dietary needs, students should contact the manager on duty to set up a meeting with the general manager or chef of their dining commons. Appointments can also be made to discuss individualized diets by contacting dining@berkeley.edu.