Worms, bugs and mold — oh my.
A growing number of USC students are saying that when they pick up a meal in the campus dining halls, they’re actually getting more than just food. In a series of eye‑crushing clips and photos that spread across social media, they point to what they believe to be creepy‑crawly unwanted guests hidden in their dishes at two of the university’s main dining venues: Everybody’s Kitchen and the USC Village Dining Hall.
All of the footage – supposedly filmed over the last three months – was confirmed by USC’s student‑run news outlet, Annenberg Media, to come from actual students on campus.
One clip shows a bug that looks a lot like a maggot slowly inching across a plate at Everybody’s Kitchen in early September, according to the outlet. Another video, shot on November 22, features a green insect blending almost perfectly into a salad inside the USC Village Dining Hall. In a third clip, a woman is mid‑bite of broccoli when she spots what appears to be a “worm‑like” bug on the stalk and yells, “Oh my God!” – a moment verified by Annenberg Media’s investigation. Her friend, Ilana Jacobson, later told the outlet that the girl “freaked out, and she didn’t eat there for two weeks.”
A separate TikTok post—flagged with a “trigger warning: bugs”—revealed a photo of a fly perched on lunch meat and mold spotted on slices of bread inside Everybody’s Kitchen, Annenberg Media reports.
When asked about the surge of complaints, USC’s Assistant Vice President of Hospitality, Dirk de Jong, said: “We have a strong record of safely delivering 30‑40,000 meals per day on our campuses, and consistently earn “A”’s from the Department of Public Health which conducts regular, unannounced inspections. For these reasons, we were greatly surprised to hear of these reports, which we are closely examining to verify and improve.” He followed up by noting: “We have already begun instituting new inspection protocols to ensure that our high standards for food safety and quality are consistently being met both internally and by our vendors.”
A September 2021 public health report documents a “minor violation” for failing a criterion that reads “no insect, rodent, birds, or animals present.” This aligns with guidance stating that “insects, including beetles, moths, larvae, fruit flies, ants, and gnats” trigger a minor violation.
For many students who’ve seen the videos, the experience has left a lasting impression. “I would never eat [at EVK] again if I heard there were maggots,” said freshman Eli Kashfian, who majors in law, history, and culture. “I think that’s absolutely vile,” Annenberg Media reported.
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