No more mystery meat: New website changes the way university students choose campus meals
Published: 27 Jan. 2026, 16:05
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- LEE TAE-HEE
- [email protected]
![Students take banchan, or side dishes, at Sungkyunkwan University's cafeteria in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Nov. 17, 2025. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/27/ccd59b5a-e8d8-40c5-a498-c2fcfc90f13f.jpg)
Students take banchan, or side dishes, at Sungkyunkwan University's cafeteria in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Nov. 17, 2025. [NEWS1]
At university cafeterias around the country, students line up to be served a rotation of dishes usually based on Korean cuisine. But without clear labeling, these students can't be totally sure what ingredients are contained in each dish.
For dishes like dwaeji gogi kimchi jjigae, or pork kimchi stew, the contents can be determined simply from its name. But Korean food generally comes with a lot of banchan, or side dishes, and it can be somewhat difficult to figure out if certain meats are in the banchan or in the soup's broth.
Recognizing the need for clearer information, a student at Hanyang University has been trying to help with No Pig, a cafeteria menu information service.
Kim Yeon-woo, a sophomore at Hanyang University, launched No Pig as a website on November 2025, offering information about what dishes at her university's cafeterias contain pork, beef or seafood. While the service is quite new, No Pig has now expanded to cover Yonsei University, Korea University and Kyung Hee University due to requests from users.
Information about Sungkyunkwan University's cafeteria will also be added to No Pig starting the first week of March.
"Among my friends who are international students, there were three that couldn't eat pork because they were Muslim. There was another who followed a branch of Christianity that doesn't allow consumption of pork, and I even had a Korean friend who was allergic to pork," said Kim. "As a Korean, you sort of know what dishes have pork because you know the food and can avoid certain dishes if you need to."
"But I had an Indian friend who didn't know mandu [dumplings] had pork in them and was surprised after having eaten it. After hearing similar stories, I decided to make No Pig, and a lot of students have been liking the service."
![Kim Yeon-woo, who developed No Pig, shows the service through her phone after an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Jan. 26. [LEE TAE-HEE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/27/3bff6a10-6333-4372-986e-042d9df6c29c.jpg)
Kim Yeon-woo, who developed No Pig, shows the service through her phone after an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Jan. 26. [LEE TAE-HEE]
Daily user figures vary, as it sees less visitors during school breaks and more during the semester, but the service has seen up to 200 visitors per day. Most of them are international students, with the website offering autotranslation into 18 languages from English.
To make sure No Pig is correct and up-to-date, Kim contacts the cafeteria nutritionist at Hanyang University every Friday to confirm which dishes for the following week contain pork, beef and seafood.
For Yonsei University, one cafeteria prints out a list of ingredients used in the week’s menu and posts it at the entrance every Monday. Kim goes to check this every week. For another cafeteria that doesn't do so, she individually contacts the nutritionist every Friday to confirm which dishes contain pork, beef and seafood.
Some university cafeterias, like Korea University's, explicitly state what ingredients, like pork or beef, are used on their website, and Kim bases the information from No Pig on that.
Schools specifying the ingredients used can help students make informed choices. Many universities such as Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Ewha Womans University and Hongik University, simply list menu items on their websites.
![The weekly cafeteria menu uploaded to Chungnam National University's website shows which items contain beef, pork and chicken. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/27/f91e50d8-1be2-428e-b70a-a6519983f3e5.jpg)
The weekly cafeteria menu uploaded to Chungnam National University's website shows which items contain beef, pork and chicken. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
But there are exceptions, such as Sungshin Women’s University, which specifies whether cafeteria items contain beef, pork, seafood or eggs on its website. Chungnam National University also does the same, but for beef, chicken and pork.
Some universities do provide dietary information, but often in a limited way.
Sogang University labels its dishes more broadly by marking dishes that are fully vegetarian. Seoul National University marks dishes that don't contain meat on its cooperative website, but the label only applies to the main dish, meaning students need to separately check whether the banchan or soup contains ingredients they wish to avoid.
Apart from letting students know what ingredients are used, providing a range of options students can choose from is also important.
“Talking to cafeteria nutritionists, I’ve learned that operating a university cafeteria is actually quite challenging,” Kim said. “The number of daily orders fluctuate a lot and it's difficult to maintain operating margins, so I understand that immediately introducing halal or vegetarian options can be difficult."
"But most universities have multiple cafeterias and offer at least two to three menu options each day, and ensuring at least one dish excludes pork, one excludes beef, and so on, would be good. Services like mine can help students identify which dishes contain specific meats, but it’s also important that students have an option to choose from after learning that information.”
BY LEE TAE-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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