WHAT'S FOR LUNCH AT DARTMOUTH?
Part of an ongoing series on ingredients served at U.S. Colleges and Universities
Information updated October 2025
Dartmouth College is feeding some of the best brains in the world, so let’s see if these elite students are being offered ideal nutrition for intense learning.
The menus and ingredient information can be found online at Dartmouth College Dining Web site; all data seen here was sourced from this Web site:
GRILLED CHEESE
The Grilled Cheese at Dartmouth has four ingredients banned at Whole Foods, five inclusions of Chemical Preservatives plus Sugar and other ingredients we would never use if we were making this at home from scratch such as Soybean Oil, Soy Lecithin and Monoglycerides. (Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 10/25; Source for Recognized Preservatives: U.S. FDA 2025)
CHICKEN TENDER QUESO
This Chicken Tender Queso contains multiple ingredients Not In Kitchen.
There are 10 inclusions of ingredients banned at Whole Foods in this Dartmouth lunch dish including Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, multiple Chemical Preservatives and Bleached Flour.
TBHQ is what the Ingredient Inspector terms an ‘Acronym Ingredient’ which represents the Chemical Preservative, Tertiary (Tert) Butylhydroquinone. Acronym Ingredients always represent complex man-made chemical creations, yet appear innocuous in their simple depiction.
Shown below, ADDED SUGARS ABOUND: The majority of lunch offerings at Dartmouth contain Added Sugar. The Mozzarella Sticks contain five sources of Added Sugar.
Following are three items available at Dartmouth >> Shoestring Fries, Pita Bread Chips and a Hot Dog Bun. They all contain Added Sugar(s), Chemical Preservatives and numerous ingredients Not In Kitchen.
PRESERVATIVES ARE PERVASIVE: In addition to numerous Added Sugars, there are multiple Chemical Preservatives available for Lunch at Dartmouth.
Below we see another Acronym Ingredient >> Calcium Disodium EDTA. EDTA stands for Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid, which is an FDA-recognized Chemical Preservative.
Q: How does Dartmouth expect their exceptional students to have maximum learning capabilities when they are being offered suboptimal food selections which do not enable exceptional brain health?
It seems the foods being offered for Lunch at Dartmouth are not a reflection of the considerable collective intelligence of Dartmouth’s faculty and alumni. Why?
See what’s on the menu at some other leading U.S. Colleges + Universities:
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