Health and Nutrition

Health and Nutrition

Which will you choose?

Health and nutrition are commonly discussed topics when speaking about foods, and this is because it is such an important topic to many Americans around the country. The common idea of “dieting” and “exercise” has become greatly portrayed by the media and the news alike. Students, in particular, face different obstacles, which may hinder their ability to ‘eat right’, even if they know what ‘eating right’ is. Things like stress, and the simple lifestyle of studying and assignments doesn’t leave much room for exercise and physical health.

Many students simply don’t have time to hit the gym.

The common student tends to rely on fast foods, and foods available on campus to gain their nutrition. Therefore, it is vital to examine these places available to Brooklyn College students to see what’s really going into our bodies.

The Classic Food Pyramid

When the different places were asked about the healthiest items on their menus, they answered:

4) What is the healthiest item on your menu? Why?

Applebee’s Section of the menu devoted to meals less than 500 calories. Also weight watchers approved foods. The portions are smaller, but the price is only slightly lower, if it all less than the larger meals.
Coffee Collective in Student Center The healthiest item on their (limited, but hopefully expanding) menu would be their teas, which are bought from Rishi Tea.
Hot Bagels & Deli Turkey, lettuce & tomatoes b/c it’s low-fat
Kosher Pizza in Cafeteria Salad. It had the most nutritional value.
Popeyes Chicken tender sandwich. All white meat tenders are used.
Subway I’d say the healthiest would probably be the veggie delight because there is no meat, no oil, nothing. Just plain vegetables.
Target Well, I like the cheese sticks. They’re probably healthy right? Oh, wait, the turkey slices are probably the healthiest.
Target Pizza Hut/ Food Area I believe the healthiest item on our menu is Chicken Caesar Salad because it carries the lowest calories and it also is grilled chicken. It’s not fried or anything, it’s grilled chicken.
White Castle I’d say the healthiest would probably be the burgers, because they are not fried in grease. We steam cook them. There is just water beneath them that does the cooking. That makes it healthy.

White Castle Meal

Also, when asked about the unhealthiest items, those being interviewed behind the counters, although some reluctant, answered:

5) Which is the unhealthiest? Why?

Applebee’s Wings or boneless wings.
Coffee Collective in Student Center The least healthy would be their cookies (or maybe a large coffee with tons of simple syrup!).
Hot Bagels & Deli Strawberry cheese croissant b/c it’s high fat and sugar
Kosher Pizza in Cafeteria Regular pizza. It had no vegetables.
Popeyes Not answered.
Subway Nothing is not healthy. Everything is healthy and fresh. –Smiles and looks at the camera-
Target The hot dogs- they have a lot of cholesterol.
Target Pizza Hut/ Food Area The pasta bowls because pasta is high in calories, starch and has cheese and all that stuff.
White Castle Probably any of the things that are cooked in grease. If you get fries or onion rings, they are cooked in grease, which would make them less healthy than the burgers.

Hot Dogs anyone?

Analyzing the healthiest and unhealthiest items on the menu is very helpful for understanding the healthiness of the foods available to students. However, the most popular foods are singled out in this next question, where we ask for the most popular items on the menus:

6) What is the most popular item in your menu?

Applebee’s Wings or boneless wings. The least popular item is the whole-wheat pasta dish that happens to be on the under-550-calorie section of the menu.
Coffee Collective in Student Center The two employees mentioned that the most popular item is coffee. 
Hot Bagels & Deli Butter bagels
Kosher Pizza in Cafeteria Pepper and onion pizza.
Popeyes Our chicken.
Subway Chicken teriyaki, and then probably the chicken breast sandwiches. Chicken teriyaki is more popular.
Target The hot dogs, they’re ordered every week.
Target Pizza Hut/ Food Area The pizza, pasta is second.
White Castle We get a lot of different orders. I’d say the most popular item is the “Four Burgers and a Fries”. There are also a lot of orders for “Crave Cases”.


Also falling under the category of health is a  restaurant’s cleanliness and hygiene.  According to the website of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, inspections of restaurants occur once a year, on random dates known only by the department. Restaurants are expected to be in compliance with “food handling, food temperature, personal hygiene and vermin control” regulations. These measures are  in place to guarantee a certain standard of safety and cleanliness for  consumers.  Incidentally, the restaurants around Brooklyn college received their inspections and scores within the last few months, so we’ve included some of them on this page for those who are curious. The numbers on the right are based on the amount of health violations that were observed by the inspector on the premises. The higher the number, the more health violations were cited. If the score is higher than a certain cuttoff point, the restaurant is closed by the city until the health issues are rectified. Luckily, none of the restaurants around the college scored high enough to be considered public health threats.

Restaurants with a score of 0-13 got a letter grade of an A, and those with scores of 14-27 got a letter grade of a B. Those with scores of 28 or more got letter grades of C’s.

NYC Department of Health Inspection Grades
Starbucks 2   –   A
Dunkin Donuts 6   –   A
White Castle 10   –   A
Subway 12   –   A
Hot Bagels 12   –   A
Brooklyn College Cafeteria 19   –   B
Burger King 19   –   B
Apple Bee’s 13   –   A
Popeye’s 25   –   B
Student Center Cafe 37   –   C

Information regarding these sanitation inspection grades and inspection schedules can be seen here:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/rii/restaurant-grading-faq.pdf

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