By Brianna Wallen
News Editor
After a Yik Yak post showing a dirty machine at the campus Dunkin’ began making rounds, it did not take long for students’ frustrations to boil over.
In response to the growing concern, Chris Mihalyi, operations manager for Sodexo, said the dining management team wasted no time looking into the situation.
“We not only investigated the toaster, which was the subject of the photo; we also spoke with staff as well as reviewed current cleaning and safety checklists in place,” Mihalyi said.
Their findings suggested that the post did not show the whole story.
“We found that the crumbs found in the toaster were the result of 1 day of service in Dunkin and that the machines are cleaned daily, as expected,” Mihalyi said.
With conversations about food safety and campus cleanliness still lingering, Mihalyi reassured that protocols are in place to keep dining spaces clean and up to standard.
“We have a schedule of inspections for cleanliness and safety,” Mihalyi said. “Hourly associates during each shift check their areas for overall cleanliness and then our supervisor team continues to do walkthroughs and provide corrective actions, if necessary.”
Mihalyi added that dining operations receive ongoing oversight in addition to the daily inspections.
“We also have an onsite safety and sanitation specialist who conducts weekly inspections with the help of an SCSU graduate student serving as their intern,” Mihalyi said.
Mihalyi explained that dining services also operate under multiple layers of external review. The dining team partners with a third-party company, EcoSure, which visits campus once a semester to conduct inspections of all dining facilities.
“Finally, we are inspected by the City of New Haven Dept of Health who provided any necessary corrective actions and recommendations,” Mihalyi said.
To strengthen these efforts even further, Mihalyi said additional steps have been taken to maintain high standards at one of the university’s busiest dining spots.
“We have also increased the frequency of when our management team will inspect our spaces and provide feedback to our staff,” Mihalyi said. “Dunkin has seen an increase in student traffic this semester, so we have increased cleaning frequency.”
Mihalyi said the dining management team has also taken a closer look at how increased student traffic may have contributed to the issue seen in the viral post.
Mihalyi said that after reviewing a report covering the 10 days surrounding the post’s circulation, the team found that Dunkin’ experienced a noticeable spike in student traffic and purchases during that period. The increased activity most likely led to the toaster being used more frequently, and, therefore, resulting in a higher buildup of crumbs.
“There is not, however, any way that what was shown in the photo had not been cleaned for a long period of time,” Mihalyi said. “I engaged with our franchise partners at Dunkin’ and they stated that the amount of crumbs present was indicative of one day of service.”
Mihalyi said the incident served as an opportunity to improve dining operations and reinforce better practices among staff.
He explained that the team continues to review their training protocols to ensure they remain effective and relevant across all dining locations.
“We are also continually seeking guidance and input from many expert external sources while we integrate food safety and sanitation into our overall staff training programs and expectations,” Mihalyi said.
He added that collaboration and consistent feedback from the campus community play a key role in maintaining high standards that students expect from campus dining.
“This example will be used in the future to continue to create clean and safe facilities for our campus community,” Mihalyi said.
