Most incoming college students have to deal with the threat of the freshman 15, but University of Missouri students have an even bigger problem – the Mizzou 22.
The combination of stress, social drinking and delicious dining hall food is to blame for the larger than normal weight gain many Mizzou freshmen experience.
Thankfully Zoutrition, a recent program launched by Campus Dining Services, can help students make smarter decisions about the food they eat. Zoutrition is a website that enables students to view the nutritional information about the foods served at all campus dining locations, even the newly opened Sabai. The launch of this online tool has been a long time coming.
“Zoutrition was launched this August, the week before students arrived on campus,” says CDS Marketing Manager Michael Wuest. “It’s been a program that we’ve been working on for literally 15 years, but the actual site’s been in development for a little over a year prior to the launch.”
Prior to this fall, menus with nutritional information were only available in print form from the individual locations. The main goal of the website is to enable students with dietary restrictions, such as a nut allergy or gluten intolerance, to make safe decisions about what they are eating. Additionally, students who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet are able to review their dining options without having to step foot in the dining halls.
“Being a vegetarian and being concerned about my health, Zoutrition is a great resource to go by,” freshman Madison Alcedo says. “By providing the nutrients and ingredients in each meal, I know what I am eating and can plan my meals around what is healthful in the dining halls.”
Although the goal of the site is to keep students safe and comfortable with their food options, it has some hidden benefits. Students with smart phones have nutritional information for all of the food served in campus dining locations at their fingertips, so making informed decisions has become much easier. Students who are hoping to avoid the Mizzou 22 can use Zoutrition to be aware of exactly what they’re eating.
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“As someone with food allergies, I like having Zoutrition as a resource when I’m not sure if I can eat some of the foods offered at the dining halls,” freshman Emily Smiths says.
At certain dining locations, foods that sound healthful might in fact be the opposite. At Infusion, the coffee shop in the MU student center, the seemingly innocent Strawberry Orange Smoothie packs in 486 calories and 78 grams of sugar. Students hoping to have a quick snack between morning classes might unknowingly consume what is essentially a shake that has orange sherbet listed as its first ingredient.
The banana nut muffin top from Memorial Union’s Wheatstone Bistro is tempting for someone grabbing a cup of coffee. Even though it doesn’t sound too bad, the muffin contains 283 calories and 15 grams of fat. Utilizing the Zoutrition website is a way for health conscious students to track calories or fat, if that is something they desire.
“I don’t think we focus our menus on any specific diets, but with Zoutrition and with what we do as a whole, we’re able to help people who do have specific dietary needs,” Wuest says. “We try to provide good, healthy options for students, but it falls upon them to make that choice.”
Savvy students, whether they have allergies, follow a vegetarian diet or are simply picky eaters, can easily avoid the Mizzou 22 by becoming informed about what goes into their food, specifically by using the new Zoutrition site.