Discover Western's Special Diet Support
Living with a special diet can be challenging, especially away from home. At Western, we endeavor to provide a wide range of food options to accommodate as many special diets as we can, so you can enjoy the experience of eating on campus without risking your health or comfort.
If you, or one of your friends follows a special diet, please familiarize yourself with the dietary icon and resources we have available for each special diet below.
Halal
Halal options are available in eateries and residence dining halls across campus. All our unprocessed chicken, meatballs and many of our beef options are Halal. Halal lamb is used on many special events menus and Halal cold cuts are available upon request. Look for the Halal icon to confirm that your meal is Halal.
On campus, Paramount in the University Community Centre Food Hub offers a full Halal menu. Barakat (an off-campus meal plan partner) on the corner of Sarnia and Western Road, is exclusively Halal.
You will also find several seafood and plant-based options on the menu rotation in our residence dining halls.
Kosher
Our residence dining halls and kitchens are not kosher. However, anything with pork will be labelled. Kosher meals are available on request and arrive within four business days. During Passover, special ordered “Kosher for Passover” meals are offered across all seven residence dining halls and at Einstein’s Café in the Natural Sciences building.
If you are looking for certified kosher products off campus, most grocery stores have a variety of options available. There is an independently-run kosher kitchen near campus for students who are interested in keeping kosher. Reach out to Western Hillel for more information.
Note: Western Hillel is an independent, off-campus organization that is not affiliated with Western University.
Vegan and Vegetarian
To help meet your dietary needs, vegan and vegetarian options are always available on campus. Hospitality Services is committed to providing more plant-based options for our campus community—in residence dining halls, we are actively working towards the goal of making 40% of our dining hall menus plant-based by the start of 2024.
Gluten Free
We do have gluten free options in our campus eateries and residence dining halls. However, we are not a gluten-free facility and therefore cannot guarantee that cross-contamination has not taken place. If you want to confirm the gluten free status of a food item on campus, please ask a member of our culinary support team for assistance.
If you are Celiac or have an extreme gluten intolerance, you may need to find off-campus alternatives to accommodate your needs.