By Ben Shelley
Last week, one Ryerson student got his serving of cafeteria greens — but not in the conventional way.
Jonathan Lei, an 18 year-old Ryerson student, was eating his order of pork and vegetables on Nov. 19 at the International Living Learning Centre cafeteria, when he came across a green insect in his food. Lei said the insect was hard to see, because it was mixed in with the vegetables on his dish.
“I didn’t notice what it was at first,” said Lei. When he realized that it was a bug, Lei showed his friend the insect and then spoke to the staff.
The chef was brought out to talk about the incident, and said that they would be in contact with the company which provides food for Ryerson cafeterias, according to Lei. Staff members did not want to comment on the situation, but said the insect likely came from the supplier.
A photo of the insect was brought to Kruti Shukla, a Ph.D. student who is part of The Campbell Group, a plant evolutionary and ecology lab at Ryerson. Shukla said that she can’t conclude what type of insect it is without a sample, but believes the insect is part of an order that includes butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), or is part of an order that includes beetles (Coleoptera).
Vesta Jimenez, a first-year interior design student, was with Lei when he found the insect in his food. She says she had an incident with the cafeteria’s food earlier in the year, and wasn’t too shocked when Lei found the insect.
“I wasn’t too surprised,” said Jimenez. “I’ve had food from ILLC that had hair in it so it wasn’t the first time that I’ve seen something like that.”
Lei said he will not be eating at the ILLC cafeteria for a while, for fear of a similar incident happening again.
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