In accordance with Article 47 of the Higher Education Law No. 2547, our university's Directorate of Health, Culture, and Sports provides our students with accommodation, health, sports, culture, and scholarship services, while also meeting the nutritional needs of our students, academic, and administrative staff. For this purpose, lunch is served in 10 of our dining halls, and dinner is served in 4 of our dining halls.
Our Mission
The mission of the ITU Catering Services Branch Directorate is to provide healthy, balanced, delicious, and high-quality nutrition to ITU students, academic, and administrative staff in environments where food safety is ensured in compliance with legal regulations.
Our Vision
The vision of the ITU Catering Services Branch Directorate is to be a leader and a reference among university dining halls and to continuously improve service quality in line with guest requests to increase guest demand and satisfaction.
Kitchens
- ITU Ayazağa Campus 75th Anniversary Student Social Center Kitchen
- ITU Gümüşsuyu Campus Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Kitchen
- ITU Maçka Campus Atrium Kitchen
- ITU Tuzla Campus Faculty of Maritime Studies Kitchen
Dining Halls
- ITU Ayazağa Campus 75th Anniversary Student Social Center Student Dining Hall
- ITU Ayazağa Campus 75th Anniversary Student Social Center Academic and Administrative Staff Dining Hall
- ITU Ayazağa Campus İMKB Vadi Male Student Dormitory Dining Hall
- ITU Gümüşsuyu Campus Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Student Dining Hall
- ITU Gümüşsuyu Campus Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Gümüşsuyu Academic and Administrative Staff Dining Hall
- ITU Maçka Campus Atrium Student Dining Hall
- ITU Maçka Campus Atrium Academic and Administrative Staff Dining Hall
- ITU Taşkışla Campus Faculty of Architecture Student Dining Hall
- ITU Taşkışla Campus Faculty of Architecture Academic and Administrative Staff Dining Hall
- ITU Tuzla Campus Faculty of Maritime Studies Student, Academic and Administrative Staff Dining Hall
You can find meal times and prices at this link.
In accordance with legal provisions, a portion of the meal cost is covered by meal fees collected from our students and university staff, and a significant portion is subsidized by our university's own income. Our students, academic, and administrative staff can eat their meals using their ID cards (automation system). The automation system is implemented in all our dining halls.
During the academic term, meal service is provided to an average of 14,000 people daily. Our Directorate provides a total of 2,000 students with free meal scholarships every year.
Food Safety
- Quality in mass catering is a combination of many parameters.
- Our staff consists of experienced chefs who receive training every year.
- In our dining halls, an accredited laboratory takes samples of ready-to-eat meals, drinking and utility water, ambient air, equipment culture, and hand culture every month. The samples are transported to the laboratory without breaking the cold chain, and microbiological analyses are performed.
- A witness sample is taken from all types of food produced every day and stored in a cold room for 72 hours.
- Quality and hygiene inspections of our dining halls, kitchens, and suppliers are carried out regularly.
- Cleaning and disinfection of our kitchens and dining halls are done regularly and in accordance with the rules every day.
- Drinking water is purchased in polycarbonate packaging, and modern dispensers and single-use plastic cups are used for meals.
- Organic and recyclable waste are collected separately in our kitchens and dining halls and are taken away by the municipality in different vehicles.
- Waste oils are given to a licensed recycling company.
- Our kitchens and dining halls are provided with pest control services by certified personnel from a company with a service adequacy certificate every month.
- The environments where meals are prepared at Istanbul Technical University are in compliance with food safety. In 2013, all our kitchens were issued an Operating Registration Certificate by applying to the T.C. Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock. All our kitchens and dining halls are regularly inspected by food engineers from the T.C. Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.
Menus
Menus are prepared monthly by a team consisting of a food engineer, a food technician, and a head chef under the supervision of our manager, with energy values of 1,000-1,500 kcal, taking into account the nutritional content of the foods offered. Monthly and daily menus are announced on our website. The basic nutrients and calorie values of the foods on the menu can be viewed on the ITU Mobile application.
In our student dining halls, 4 types of meals are served in one sitting. These are;
1. Type: soup/salad/yogurt/tzatziki/crudités and similar,
2. Type: main course with meat,
3. Type: rice/pasta/pastry/olive oil-based dishes and similar,
4. Type: fruit/salad/yogurt/tzatziki/dessert (milk-based/pastry) and similar.
Additionally, for our vegan and vegetarian students, a vegetarian main course is provided as an alternative to the main course at lunch.
Procurement
The raw materials, equipment, and supplies needed by the ITU Catering Services Branch Directorate are determined according to monthly menus and needs. Raw materials and supplies are procured by the ITU Directorate of Health, Culture, and Sports Procurement Branch Directorate through tender or negotiation, using technical specifications. Our technical specifications used for goods and services procurement are prepared by our food engineers in accordance with current laws, regulations, communiqués, standards, and other national and international legal provisions and are constantly revised. For contracted firms, the T.C. Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Operating Registration or Operating Approval Certificates and the implementation of the ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System Standard or HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) Food Safety System are required. In addition, the contracted firms are periodically inspected for hygiene and product safety by our manager, food engineers, and food technicians. The goods received are checked by our inspection commissions, and the necessary raw material analyses are carried out by an accredited laboratory for the features specified in the technical specifications.
Technical Service
The authorized services of the contracted firms and our technical teams regularly inspect and carry out maintenance and repair work in the kitchens, warehouses, dining halls, and other units.
Infrastructure
Natural gas is used in all our kitchens.
The water used must be compliant with regulations, continuous, and sufficient. For this reason, our 75th Anniversary Student Social Center, Gümüşsuyu, and Maçka Dining Halls have water depots with purification systems that meet these conditions. At our Tuzla Campus, there is a water depot belonging to the ITU Faculty of Maritime Studies.
Against the risk of power outages, there are generators in our 75th Anniversary Student Social Center Dining Hall, Maçka Atrium Building Student and Staff Dining Hall, and Gümüşsuyu Student and Staff Dining Hall buildings.
Records
Statistical information about storage, stock control, cost, etc., is kept as daily, monthly, and yearly records. Monthly meal cost calculations are made by taking into account the costs of goods and services and the number of people who have meals.