About our food

We take the health of our customers seriously. If you have a food allergy, or require information about the allergenic content of the food, we ask you to make yourself known to any member of the catering staff. They, in turn, will contact a senior member of the kitchen staff who will be pleased to discuss your requirements.

Customers should note that we produce food in kitchens where all allergens are handled and while we try to keep things separate, we cannot guarantee that any item is allergen free.

Dietary requirements

All of our packaged items are labelled with allergens and ingredients. Ask staff members in outlets for specific information.

Some of our foods may contain additives, flavourings, DNA or protein derived from genetically modified organisms, including soya and maize. If you would like more information regarding Genetically modified foods, please email ycl-catering@york.ac.uk 

We offer a range of plant based options in all of our outlets, including main meals for catered accommodation and college nights. We use dietary icons on our menus to indicate which items are vegan, our text icon reads (VG) whereas our image icon is a small purple leaf in a circle. 

Please notify a member of our team if you have any faith dietary requirements and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Halal

We are aiming to have Halal menus available for all of our call to order menu outlets and we offer Halal menu emailers for our catered accommodation and college night meal sites.

All of our halal menu items use halal certified ingredients. Whilst we take the utmost care to follow halal guidelines and purchase halal certified products, due to the nature of our business we cannot guarantee halal environments. If you have any questions please email ycl-catering@york.ac.uk

CO2e is a way to measure how much greenhouse gas is released during the production, transportation, and disposal of different types of foods. CO2e measurement identifies which foods have the most significant environmental impact and where we should concentrate our efforts to support sustainable food production and consumption.

Food production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, making up about 25% of the total emissions. The average carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions of UK meals is currently at 1.7kg, exceeding the Paris Agreement target of <0.5kg per meal by more than three times.

Net Zero 2050

The net-zero targets for CO2e emissions are becoming increasingly important as the world seeks to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by around 2050.

To achieve a net zero target for CO2e emissions, an average person needs to reduce their carbon footprint to around 2-3 kg CO2e per day.

This can be accomplished by implementing actions such as decreasing energy consumption, opting for low-carbon transportation methods, adopting a predominantly plant-based diet, and actively reducing waste. 

Data source

To calculate the CO2e values for specific food types, our system Pi uses data provided by the World Resources Institute and the Poore & Nemecek (2018) study published in the journal Science which is the largest meta-analysis of food systems to date.

Pi's carbon footprint labels are indicative and display meals with low, medium, and high carbon emissions to help you and your customers make more informed decisions. Let's work together to create a more sustainable future for our planet, one meal at a time!

We recognise the need to be responsible in our choice of suppliers and understanding of the life cycle of what we buy. The principles behind our procurement policies aim to:

• Appoint environmentally responsible suppliers
• Take a long-term partnership approach with key suppliers to reduce our joint environmental impact
• Endeavour to purchase goods and services with the least environmental impact during their life cycle
• Reduce paper-based transactions within the purchase cycle
• Support local businesses and local economy wherever possible

Haighs - Baker

Based in Guiseley, Leeds, Haighs is a local bakery that was founded in 1950 with less than 50 staff currently in employment. The raw materials for the bakery products come from other UK based businesses, for example; the flour comes from Heygates at Northampton and Sundries comes from Durham. Through investment in new bakery machinery, delivery vehicles and a bake-house heat exchange unit, Haighs are continually working hard to reduce their carbon footprint.

Any of Haighs over-production is sent on to St Georges Crypt in Leeds to feed the homeless. 

Paynes Food Service - Dairy, Fruit and Vegetables 

Paynes Food service are a food service provider formed by amalgamating KE Blands (a fruit and vegetable wholesaler) and JG Bellerby (Fresh dairy produce supplier) both companies having over 30 years’ experience in those sectors. We try wherever possible to work with local suppliers, for instance our eggs are supplied by three different suppliers, but all are within ten miles of our site. Our potatoes come from many of the farmers around us in Ripon.

M&K Butchers
M&K is York’s most successful butchers, with a shop on Bishopthorpe Road. They also have a farm, on which they have arable cows, sheep, free range chickens and outdoor pigs.

The farm is progressive and always looking to the future, they are exploring regenerative practices to enhance the farms productivity alongside its environmental impact and to help generate money. Sheep and cows are used in an extended rotation to maintain and improve the soils, also increasing biodiversity. Pigs are used for management of the wooded area as well as clearing land and non-native weeds.

The reasons for venturing into regenerative agriculture is to not only maintain our land and habitats but to improve it for our children, the future, and to improve natures biodiversity.

Across 12 sites, Eat & Drink have been awarded the Bronze Food for Life award.

Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) supports public and private sector caterers to serve food that is fresh, local and sustainable. Food for Life Served Here standard meals positively impact not only customers eating the meals, but the organisations they are prepared for, the teams involved in cooking them and the local economy.

As part of the Food for Life programme, award holders are:
• Assuring parents and pupils that their school meals are responsibly sourced and freshly prepared by trained cooks
• Improving health by putting more fresh fruit and vegetables, fish, and wholegrains on the menu
• Boosting staff wellbeing by serving more fresh food and making healthy eating easier
• Reassuring diners that meals are of the highest quality and provenance
• Protecting the environment for the future by reducing food miles
• Supporting vulnerable people in hospital and care settings to get vital nutrition
• Sustaining a thriving local economy by putting more British food on the table