This morning, The Temple News — Temple University’s independent newspaper — shared that the institution’s food establishments have obtained roughly 162 violations as recent as March.  

According to City of Philadelphia food inspection reports, university and non-university owned dining locations on campus had violations in the two categories in the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Office of Food Protection’s report: foodborne illness risk factors and public health interventions, and good retail practices. They were recorded as part of routine city inspections. 

While 40 of Temple’s 162 violations were in the foodborne illness risk factors and public health interventions section, 122  were in the good retail practice standards section.

As stated by The Temple News, 38 were corrected on-site, while 16 were repeat violations which ranged from not having hot water available at hand wash sinks in front of food prep areas to grime and debris accumulation in some catch basins. If a violation is fixed during an inspection, it is marked on the report as corrected on-site. 

The establishments that received the most violations (24 for both sections) were the Johnson and Hardwick dining hall, and the Starbucks in the Howard Gittis Student Center — between February 2021 to March 2023. On March 13, the Student Center Starbucks had mouse droppings observed on the floor and under a tea bag container and a storage container. 

The newspaper wrote that freshman and transfer students living in on-campus housing are required to purchase a minimum meal plan of 10 meals per week. The costs of meal plans range from $1,730 to $2,355 per semester.

If you want to learn more about The Temple News research, the violations, the inspections process and how it’s being addressed, click here.