FAQs - University Gastronomy

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Häufigste Fragen

Why are chips labelled as vegetarian and not as vegan?

The chips naturally don’t contain any ingredients of animal origin, but consist solely of potatoes and oil. They are also always deep-fried in vegetable fat. However, the deep fryer is also used for other food that contains meat. Unfortunately, the canteens don’t have enough deep fryers to strictly separate the type of food and it is not possible to keep changing the frying fat as we are talking about up to 160 litres of frying fat which would then have to be changed a couple of times each day.

Do the canteens use glutamate?

For the most part, our canteens don’t use flavour enhancers that require to be labelled (in accordance to the German “Zusatzstoff-Zulassungsverordnung”), such as monosodium glutamate, as ingredients for the various recipes. We also, as far as possible, don’t offer any products which contain them. Dishes or products that do contain them, are labelled with the corresponding number (4).

Why does the labelling of the dishes sometimes change? E.g., from vegan to vegetarian.

Several weeks go by in between putting together the menu, ordering the food and its delivery and processing. During this time it can happen that articles are altered by the producer or the supplier. This information is then of course handed on to our guests. To give you an example: the ingredients of our noodles have changed, so that it was necessary to change the labelling from “vegan” to “vegetarian”

Why are the nutritional values of the dishes not made public?

We have good news regarding this. The nutritional values of the listed articles are by and by being entered into the management system. That is a lot of work as several thousand articles need to be edited in our data base. But we are nonetheless glad to carry out this task. For a majority of the articles the nutritional values have already been entered, so that our guests will soon be able to gain access to the information on nutritional values. We are planning to publish this data for the coming winter semester.

Why is the food which is offered sometimes different from the online menu?

There is a central menu, which is created a lot in advance. Certain dishes are put on the menus by our facilities’ chefs on that day. This ensures flexibility with regard to, for example, the weather/season. Only the menu planned up ahead is available online, which currently cannot be brought up to date immediately should, for instance, food run out or there be delivery problems. We are already working hard to soon be able to inform you better.

Who can use the university catering service?

Our university catering is a service for customers active in the area of higher education; it is part of the Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern’s department University Gastronomy.

What does the Studierendenwerk do to contain the flood of paper cups?

The Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern would desire it very much to do without paper cups as the purchasing and especially the disposal of the cups, which causes a lot of environmental damage, would not be necessary any more. In fact, the Studierendenwerk has for many years already been offering its guest various possibilities to avoid using paper cups. For one thing, it is of course possible to use china cups for enjoying your cup of coffee straight away. You are very welcome to take these cups to a lecture, provided they are handed back in. Furthermore, the Studierendenwerk offers reusable cups to go, which are available for only €3.60 in the StuCafés and StuBistrosMensa. Naturally, all our guests can also bring their own cups to fill up. The outlet of the coffee machines can be adjusted in height. By the way, the disposable cups as well as the lids of the Studierendenwerk are 100% biocompatible, which has been the case for already more than 5 years! Despite all the alternatives it is nonetheless not possible to completely do without paper cups, because the Studierendenwerk has a lot of unattended coffee machines.

Why is there only portioned milk at some coffee machines instead of fresh milk, which would produce a lot less waste?

Unfortunately, the fresh milk was often drunk “just like that” without any coffee. That led to our employees hardly being able to keep up with filling up the milk and there was often none left for the coffee drinkers, which caused complaints. We are sorry to say that putting up notices has so far shown no results, which is why you can only get portioned milk at some of our coffee machines.

Can I have a second helping?

As the dishes and prices are worked out especially, that is not possible with dishes that are served as a fixed amount. But you can always buy yourself a second helping. A further reason why we introduced self-service concepts – everyone can take just as much as they need. This way, getting yourself more, is always possible.

Why are there no water dispensers in the canteens?

For hygienic reasons, the Studierendenwerk does not put up water dispensers. But the Sodenthaler StuCafé water is available for only €0.50 per half a litre in all of the Studierendenwerk’s gastronomic facilities.

Can the leftovers be given to e.g. homeless people?

We frequently look into the possibility of donating food, but that is actually not as simple as one might presume; often, certain conditions need to be fulfilled, such as assumption of liability. For this reason, that is unfortunately not possible at the moment. The Studierendenwerk, however, always does its best to have as little food left over as possible.

Why are some desserts offered in plastic cups?

At all our locations where we have already switched to our new food and payment system, we now offer desserts in a glass. We also offer our fine desserts in plastic cups as, like this, they can be presented in an a lot more attractive way than in a china bowl. Another advantage is the possibility to buy them as a takeaway for later, which a lot of students like doing.

Why do you pay for some dishes according to weight while others have a fixed price?

Dishes which our guests (can) take themselves are charged for according to weight so that our guests can decide themselves how large a portion they would like to have. With some dishes, however, it is rather awkward to help yourself or it would take quite long. In the case of certain dishes, for example during our special weeks, we also want to prepare the food nicely for you on a plate.

Is it possible to receive the balance remaining on my Legic Card back if I lose it?

We can only block your card and pay you out the remaining balance if you can tell us your card number, because the cards are not personalized due to data protection. It is therefore advisable that you take a note of your 6-digit card number, e.g. in your mobile. Should you lose your card, you will be asked at the infopoint to provide your card number in order to block the card. If a card is found and handed in, the number also makes it possible to verify the owner of the card and thus to return it.

Where can I get information regarding the new price system and pricing?

As soon as one of our gastronomic facilities has changed to the new food and cash desk system, you will get information from our cash desk employees. For general questions and complaints regarding this matter, you are very welcome to turn to the management of the gastronomic facility in question. You can also send an email to mensa@stwm.de.