Environment & Health

Eating regional products is becoming more and more important and there is a good reason for it. Due to short delivery routes, which spare the environment, local products are also especially fresh and contain lots of important vitamins. Also, by consuming local products, producers and manufacturers in the area are strengthened economically.

As far as it is possible, we obtain our food supplies from within Bavaria. Especially with seasonal fruit and vegetables, short delivery routes are important to us; for years, we have therefore obtained our asparagus from Schrobenhausen.

Because of the fact that we want to guarantee our canteen guests a large variety, availability as well as moderate prices, it is unfortunately not yet possible for us to obtain our food supplies exclusively from Bavaria or even the Munich region. One reason for this is that suppliers do not have the amounts necessary for mass catering. We are nonetheless constantly working on increasing the percentage of regionally and locally grown food. We can, however, celebrate a first success; our sausages are obtained exclusively from regional suppliers.

Enjoy food from Bavaria: The Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern’s canteens now offer EU certified specialties, which guarantees the origin of the food – that is, original Bavarian food with history and tradition. There are two different labels: the yellow and blue and the yellow and red label. Products with the g.U. label (“geschützte Ursprungsbzeichnung”; Eng: PDO, protected designation of origin) must be produced, processed and prepared in the stated region. Also, all of the ingredients must come from this region. Specialties with the g.g.A. label (“geschützte geografische Angabe”; Eng: PGI, protected geographical indication) are traditionally prepared and processed within the specific region. So, if it says “Schrobenhausener Spargel” on the canteen’s menu, then the asparagus was traditionally looked after and harvested in the Schrobenhausen area. The specialties are part of the “WeltGenussErbe Bayern.”. More information:

www.weltgenusserbe.bayern/?lang=en

Chicken

As the first German Studierendenwerk, the Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern has decided to make a further step towards supporting animal welfare. After talks with the Albert Schweitzer Stiftung, the Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern is joining the “Europäische Masthuhn-Initiative” (Eng: European broiler initiative). 

This union of 30 renowned animal welfare organisations aims to significantly improve the way broiler chickens are kept. It aims to implement important aspects regarding animal welfare beyond legal requirements, such as lower stocking density in chicken farming, reducing over-breeding as well as meeting minimum standards for light and occupation material. The Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern will meet the requests of the “Europäische Masthuhn-Initiative” by, at the latest, 2026.

Eggs

All our gastronomic facilities exclusively use eggs from alternative farming methods. In 2011, the Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern was thus awarded “Das Goldene Ei” (Eng: the golden egg), an animal welfare award for food. It is awarded by the “Albert Schweitzer Stiftung für unsere Mitwelt” in cooperation with the international animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming. Since July 2011, we exclusively use organic eggs (Kontrollstelle: DE-ÖKO-006).

Fish is very healthy and rich in proteins and nutrients, which is why we like having it on our menus. Unfortunately, a large portion of the worldwide fish population is being overfished. For this reason, the raw products for our fish dishes mainly come from sustainable fishing (MSC). MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) is an environmental organisation which aims to contribute to preserve fish populations and ocean diversity and thus to preserve the world’s oceans as a habitat for the species.

Farming fish is a good way of sparing natural fish populations. Our University Gastronomy would like to be able to offer sustainably farmed fish; however, despite sustainability, the quality and farming conditions often leave a lot to be desired, so that, for instance, we refrain from offering tilapia from Vietnam. For this reason, we would like to focus on farmed Bavarian ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council) fish. Unfortunately, however, we have so far not been able to find a product suitable for mass catering. By standing up for improved fish farming, we want to contribute to the task of trying to meet a growing demand while at the same time trying to keep the effects on people and the environment as low as possible.

www.asc-aqua.org/

www.msc.org

Organic farming is particularly resource-sparing and environmentally friendly. For instance, animals have enough space and are kept in an appropriate way. They are fed good food without any fattening ingredients. The soil or crop can do without chemical synthetic pesticides, supporting soil fertility. The Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern meets the requirements of the EU legislation on organic farming. For this reason, we are allowed to use the official “Bio-Siegel” and sell organic dishes. The dishes are labelled in the menus. Since 2020, all the dry pasta except glass noodles and rice noodles and, since July 2021, also all our eggs offered in our canteens are organic (Kontrollstelle: DE-ÖKO-006); further products will follow.

www.oekolandbau.de/en/

Many of us enjoy products such as coffee, tea or cocoa on a daily basis. These products, however, unfortunately cannot be grown in Germany. Because of the fact that some of these are exclusively grown in developing countries, we want to make sure that the people there can live from the money they earn and have good working conditions. We therefore opt for fair trade products provided there are no regional alternatives. Therefore, all our facilities only offer fair trade coffee, tea and hot cocoa. Furthermore, also various different juices and soft drinks.

Purchase

We order large quantities that make it possible to reduce packaging waste as much as possible, while, at the same time, making sure that no food goes to waste. We consider all aspects of waste, i.e. we avoid unnecessary packaging or organize it in the most environmentally-friendly way already when purchasing our supplies.

Preparation

Handling raw products with care so that there is as little waste as possible while preparing our food is a matter of course for us and our employees. And even this “waste” is used, for example, for juice or fruit salads. Furthermore, we produce in batches, preferring to redeliver if necessary than having to throw out food.

Availability

Apart from reducing waste when preparing the food, it is also important to us to calculate the amount necessary as exactly as possible in order to avoid waste. Therefore, please do not hold it against us should a dish run out or is not available in large quantities throughout the opening hours. We are happy to say that our self-service system and paying according to weight have indeed led to less food waste.

Unsold Meals

We also consider it legitimate to offer perfect not sold dishes the following day if they were not at the counter the day before.

Actual Waste

Both production and food waste of our guests are used for generating energy.

StuCup

StuCup is the Studierendenwerk München Oberbayern’s new deposit system for reusable cups for coffee to go. At locations where the StuCup is not used, we ask for a charge for a biocompatible disposable cup.

More information at: Reusable Cups

StuBowl – the reusable bowl

Why not take your own cutlery. You can easily transport it in your StuBowl. The StuBowl is reusable and was specially developed for our cash desk system.

We kindly ask you to understand that, from 10 May 2021 onwards, we’ll have to ask for a charge for our packaging.

Disposable packaging: cups, bowls, soup cups, set of cutlery, pizza carton:   €0.35

More information can be found here.

Our disposable products are all sustainable and biodegradable.

Bagasse plates and cups

Bagasse is a waste product of the sugar industry and a renewable raw material. Various technical processes press the fibres into different shapes. Bagasse is biodegradable.

CPLA cups for smoothies and desserts

This bioplastic, which is made out of polylactic acid, starch and talc powder, is completely biodegradable and has similar properties to conventional plastic. CPLA production solely uses industrially grown corn (no forage corn). No microplastics are produced.

Wooden cutlery

Our completely biodegradable cutlery is mainly made from scrap wood and sawdust. The wood comes from sustainable forestry and is regionally sourced.

In accordance with EU Regulation 1169/2011 (Provision of food information to consumers), unpacked food is to be labelled if it contains the ingredients stated in the regulation that can cause allergies or intolerances in some people.

Where can you find the labelling?

The various information can be found as abbreviations for each meal on the menu on the specific stand-up counter displays - after the word “enthält” (Eng: contains) as well as in our online menus.

Allergens and other labelling could change due to short-notice changes in the recipes or contents of the menu which, in this case, cannot be seen in the online menu. For this reason, please always pay attention to the labelling on the stand-up counter displays.

Where can you find information on allergens in the StuBistros^Mensa, StuCafés and StuLounges?

We put up stand-up counter displays for the various meals.

For any other unpacked food (e.g. cake, “Semmel” or sausages) you can have a look at our “Was-ist-drin?-Liste” (Eng: What’s in it? list) at the counters. This list contains information on allergens, types of meat, gelatin, garlic, alcohol and other additives that need to be labelled.

Any allergens that may be present in packaged food (e.g. sandwiches, dairy products or sweets) are listed in the list of ingredients on the packaging or the sticker.

What about traces of allergens?

Due to technical and organisational reasons, it is not possible to entirely prevent traces of allergens being present, despite working very carefully, because meals cannot be prepared separately.

Is there any lactose-free or gluten-free food on the menus?

According to the Commission Regulation (EC) 41/2009, “gluten-free” food is allowed to contain at the most 20 mg gluten per kg.

Unfortunately, there is no gluten-free food on our menus because it is not possible to prepare it separately in our kitchens. Should traces of gluten not be a problem for you, pay attention to the abbreviation “Gl” which stands for the ingredient gluten in the recipe. Check for food that is not marked “Gl” on the stand-up counter displays.

Guests with lactose intolerance can also orient themselves by the labelling of ingredients: If food is not labelled “Mi”, it does not contain milk/dairy products including lactose. However, this food is not explicitly marked as “lactose-free”.