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Columbia University has been slammed for serving an ‘October 7th Blush Sauce’ in its dining hall on the third anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks on Israel.
The Ivy League school updated its dining hall menu Wednesday with four distinct pasta sauces: Marinara, Turkey Bolognese, Garlic Oil and its controversial ‘October 7th Blush Sauce,’ according to a post on X.
It appeared under the cafeteria’s ‘pasta station’ as ‘today’s special,’ exactly three years after Hamas led an attack that became the deadliest day in Israel’s history.
The post immediately triggered intense backlash, with dozens accusing the university of intentionally choosing the name ‘Blush Sauce’ and speculating that it was a reference to the blood of those killed in the attack.
‘What does “blush” sauce mean in the context of the massacre on October 7?’ one comment read.
Another said: ‘This is not only nauseating but conspicuously cruel and insane.’
‘So they’re symbolically serving up the blood of October 7 victims? WT absolute F?’ a third wrote.
One added: ‘Wait, is this a joke? Someone needs to be fired over this. This is outrageous!’
Simone Saidmehr on Twitter / XOn the menu at Columbia University’s dining hall today: October 7th Blush Sauce pic.twitter.com/LowwIH1DYP— Simone Saidmehr (@saidmehr_simone) October 7, 2026
X • Simone Saidmehr
‘There’s no way this is unintentional,’ said another.
But the claims prompted a heated debate online, as others argued that Blush Sauce is a real pasta sauce, sometimes known as pink or rosé sauce, and has nothing to do with blood.
It is described as a creamy, velvety pasta sauce made by blending a rich tomato-based sauce with heavy cream or half and half.
‘It’s the shade of pink your face turns when you’re angry or shy or embarrassed. It’s one of Julia Roberts’ wedding colors in Steel Magnolias,’ one comment read. ‘It is NOT antisemitic.’
Another commenter claimed the menu was ‘apparently a copy/paste mistake’ and said it had since been corrected, though the claim has not been verified.
Nevertheless, floods of commenters rejected the idea that the menu’s wording was ‘just a mistake,’ pointing to the significance of the date and calling for an end to the ‘unacceptable arguments.’
‘I still do not accept the way the internet thinks playing dumb is an acceptable argument,’ one user wrote.
‘You have to purposely place that text all the way down there. This isn’t like the date was on the top line and pushed down a line on accident,’ they added. ‘Stupid defense.’
Wednesday marked three years since a Hamas led attack killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and saw 251 others taken hostage, setting off a chain of events that has reverberated around the world.
The deadly assault set off Israel’s war in Gaza, which has since killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and left the territory facing severe famine and widespread devastation.
Three years later, roughly 80 percent of structures across Gaza are believed to have been damaged, with most of the enclave’s more than two million residents displaced into less than half of its original territory.
It has since spread into a wider regional conflict reaching Lebanon, Syria and beyond, fueling intense criticism of Israel around the globe.
Meanwhile, Columbia’s latest controversy comes as the university faces renewed scrutiny over its handling of pro Palestinian campus protests, following accusations that administrators had tolerated antisemitic attitudes.
On Wednesday, around 100 protesters gathered on a public sidewalk outside Columbia’s gates, chanting slogans including ‘Globalize the intifada,’ ‘No peace on stolen land’ and ‘Every fascist state will fall’ to the beat of a drum.
Speakers accused the university of repression, with one student telling the crowd: ‘There is something uniquely painful about being Palestinian at Columbia at this moment,’ according to The Times of Israel.
Students have organized protests at the Ivy League school each year on the anniversary of October 7, 2023, protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, which United Nations (UN) experts have described as genocide.
This year’s protest, dubbed ‘3 Years of Genocide, 78 Years of Resistance,’ was organized by Students for Justice in Palestine, a group the university suspended in 2023, according to The Columbia Spectator.
It was followed by ‘listening tables’ featuring University President Jennifer Mnookin and Provost Angela Olinto, designed to give members of the Columbia community a chance to discuss tensions on campus in the aftermath of the attack.
The initiative launched in 2024 to foster discussion among faculty, students and staff following the height of campus protests – many of which took place on Columbia’s own campus.
In April 2024, the Ivy League’s Butler Lawn became a focal point for demonstrations that spread across college campuses following the terror attack.
The lawn was overtaken by a pro-Palestinian tent city and became the scene of clashes between protesters and Jewish students before the NYPD eventually dismantled the encampment.
Months later, Columbia’s antisemitism task force found that Jewish students had faced verbal abuse, ostracism and humiliation in the classroom during the spring 2024 demonstrations.
In 2025, Columbia suspended dozens of students and barred alumni and others who participated in anti Israel protests inside the school’s main library.
Last year, President Donald Trump cut $400 million in federal funding for the university, with his administration citing the school’s ‘continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.’
The prestigious school later announced significant concessions to Trump, including paying out $220million in order to restore federal research money over the White House‘s sanctions.
Columbia also agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university’s student disciplinary process and adopting a new definition of antisemitism.
The definition describes antisemitism as ‘a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews’ and has been adopted by the US Department and several European governments.
Critics, however, argue that it can be used to shield Israel from legitimate criticism and say it conflates antisemitism with anti Zionism.
Columbia also placed more than 65 students on interim suspension and barred 33 others – including students from affiliated institutions such as Barnard College – from campus in what critics viewed as an attempt to gain favor with Trump.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Columbia University for comment.
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