DURHAM, N.H. - Dining Services at the University of New Hampshire has won a prestigious Goldie Award from FoodService Director Magazine for its efforts to help students and members of the university community who frequent its dining halls eat healthy.

The Goldies are designed to give non-commercial foodservice programs like those on college campuses the opportunity to showcase the many ways in which they achieve gold standard quality in their establishments.

UNH Dining Service's winning entry was in the health and wellness category for its use of the Guiding Stars menu labeling system, which uses a star rating to let customers know the health of the items they are choosing, and for its gluten-free offerings.

All three dining halls have a separate gluten-free refrigerator area for storage of select gluten-free foods as well as separate gluten-free cooking stations. Students can make gluten-free choices online, via a "gluten-phone," and at the gluten-free stations located in each dining hall.

"The Goldie Award represents the industry's best of the best, as selected by the Culinary Institute of America," says Jon Plodzik, director of UNH Dining Services. "We were selected over the other entries based on the inclusive nature of our activities within the campus community ranging from nutritional education, product labeling, our pioneering use of the Guiding Star rating system, specialty diets, and collaboration with Healthy UNH. This award represents our accomplishments as seen by our peers in leading college and university dining services."

In another healthy venture, UNH Dining Services recently teamed with Healthy UNH to offer an interactive map that provides nutritional information on food offered in the dining halls. The map also shows what healthy options are available in Dining's retail stores.

"We are very excited to be recognized among our peers for excellence in health education for our customers," says Dave May, assistant vice president for UNH Business Affairs.

UNH Dining previously has been nominated for numerous awards acknowledging its standards of excellence, including the Restaurants and Institution Magazine's Ivy Award and Loyal E. Horton Dining awards.

A video included with the entry for the Goldie Award can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/w1x_wBYnKTA.

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