Nassau: Food service probe at Molloy College after student complaints

Student complaints about spoiled food prompted Molloy College to close its two main cafeterias and triggered a Nassau health department investigation, officials said Tuesday.

Ken Young, a spokesman for the Rockville Centre-based private Catholic college, said students complained about the food about a week to 10 days ago.

"They were passionate and we realized that their concerns were more than valid," he said.

As of Friday afternoon, the college had closed down its two main cafeterias on campus and brought in food trucks to serve students, he said. “We responded swiftly."

The Nassau County Department of Health is investigating the matter after it received two complaints from students, said Mary Ellen J. Laurain, director of the department’s Division of Communication & Health Education. “Since this is an ongoing investigation, I do not have additional details to provide at this time.”

A few students had reported issues with food from the campus dining halls not being properly prepared, being undercooked and in one instance having bugs in it, said Anne Collins, 20, of Mineola, who is a senior nursing major and student government president.

Collins said she had not experienced anything wrong with the food, but after she heard the complaints, she and other students brought the issue to the attention of college administrators.

Overall students were happy with how the college handled the situation, she said. "The college acted very quickly in accommodating the students."

Approximately 4,900 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students attend Molloy College, Young said, with 285 of them residing on campus at the college’s two residence halls.

Young said food was delivered to campus residence halls over the weekend, and students can use their meal plan cards at the food trucks.

“We have begun the transition to identifying and getting in place a new food vendor,” Young said, adding that the college and vendor mutually agreed to part ways.

The vendor, Compass Group North America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Collins said students are "so excited to see what the new vendor has to bring."