WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST AT CORNELL?
Part of an ongoing series on ingredients served at U.S. Colleges and Universities
Information updated January 2026
Cornell University is part of the elite Ivy League collective. Let’s look at what the brains and bodies at Cornell are offered for fuel for at Breakfast by Cornell Dining who states they are “Nourishing the Future” and “We take pride in providing our customers with a rich dining experience, and not just a meal.” (Source: Cornell University Dining Services Web site 1/26)
MUFFINS: Below is a snapshot of Sugar and Calories in six of the muffins available for Cornell breakfast >> all of these muffins have Sugar as the first ingredient >> Ingredients are always listed in descending order of amount.
The Red Velvet Cheese Muffin at Cornell has 52 grams of Sugar and 700 calories.
Q: How is a student or teacher expected to perform when their body is processing 52 grams of Sugar at breakfast?
The Blueberry Crumb Muffin at Cornell has 43 grams of Sugar, 620 calories and seven ingredients banned at Whole Foods. (Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 1/26) A tiny portion of the Sugar is naturally-occurring Sugar from the Blueberries.
NATURALLY-OCCURING SUGAR vs. ADDED SUGAR: U.S. Food and Beverage labels are now required to break out Added Sugar from Total Sugars, but this is not done in the Cornell nutrition information so it is impossible for a consumer to determine which of the Sugars are Naturally-occurring vs. Added.
The American Heart Association recommends a Daily Added Sugar Limit for Men of 36 grams and Women of 25 grams.
BREAKFAST SANDWICHES: The following Breakfast Sandwich contains added sweeteners and ingredients we would never use at home including High Fructose Corn Syrup, Ammonium Sulfate and multiple Chemical Preservatives including BHT.
Shown below, Cornell’s Avocado Toast contains eight Chemical Preservatives and multiple ingredients Not In Kitchen when making homemade:
Seen below, even something as simple as the Croissant at Cornell University contains five ingredients banned at Whole Foods and three FDA-recognized Chemical Preservatives:
Common breakfast offerings at Cornell contain multiple ingredients we would never use at home to make these items including Tert-Butylhydroquinone a.k.a. TBHQ, High Fructose Corn Syrup and Sodium Benzoate:
Please note: Spelling errors on the Cornell Dining site have not been corrected here.
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