After Lipton Dining Hall received a pending C grade from the New York City Department of Health for several violations, including evidence of mice, NYU and its food contractor Aramark have taken several steps to resolve the situation, such as an in-depth assessment of Lipton Dining Hall as well as all other NYU Dining locations led by Aramark’s sanitation managers and a full evaluation of the university’s dining contract with Aramark.

According to one NYU Dining employee, Lipton had maintained an A grade by the DOH until a Nov. 14 inspection, for which the dining hall received a low C for failure to meet minimal health standards.

While searching different areas of the kitchen, the DOH discovered several old toasters underneath the deli that should have been discarded. While the employee said he knew about the toaster issue, he was unaware of the presence of rats in Lipton, which was reported by the DOH last month during the inspection.

According to NYU spokesperson John Beckman, Lipton Dining Hall’s manager failed to report the findings of the original inspection to his superiors at Aramark.

“In this case, the manager and chef at Lipton did not notify Aramark after the first inspection went poorly,” Beckman said in an email. “The university and its food contractor, Aramark, became aware of the problem only after the follow-up inspection, which also went poorly.”

Lipton Dining Hall’s manager and chef were both removed from their positions at NYU after Aramark became aware of the situation following the Nov. 14 inspection, Beckman said.

After Aramark caught wind of the negative inspection results, sanitation managers and professionals were brought in to correct Lipton’s issues, as well as inspect all other campus dining halls.

Beckman said every violation was corrected within 24 hours.

Beckman said the university is thoroughly evaluating its dining contract with Aramark, and Campus Services is exploring whether to hire a third-party consultant to evaluate policies and processes.

“The inspection findings at Lipton were out of line with the emphasis we insist Aramark place on food safety,” Beckman said. “The matter was handled in a way that was out of line with the protocols for dealing with negative findings by the Health Department.”

NYU and Aramark are determined to raise the facility’s grade to an A by the next inspection, Beckman said.

WSN will update the story when we learn more.

Email Sakshi Venkatraman at [email protected].