Those cheesy treats in your dining hall certainly aren’t the most healthy food option for students.

Bosco Sticks, cheese-filled breadsticks, while innocent-looking enough in their white bag and sporting a cheerfully exuberant cartoon character, are packed with calories. Each bag, served in Grant South’s Northern Lights Grill, contains 648 calories, according to nutrition information provided by Bosco’s Pizza Co.

Compared to the calorie count of other side-orders at the Northern Lights Grill, the extra calories from Bosco Sticks can quickly stack up.

For example, a 4 oz. order of crispy-coated fries contains 350 calories, and a five-piece order of mozzarella sticks contains 353 calories.

Will Michels, a senior mechanical engineering and mathematical sciences double major, recalls the scene in which he and his friends ate Bosco Sticks once a day, five days a week. He was not surprised by the treat’s calorie count, but found the number high.

The extra calories can contribute to significant weight gain. Over a 16-week semester, eating Bosco Sticks five times a week – as opposed to the crispy-coated fries or the mozzarella sicks served at the Northern Lights Grill – can introduce an additional 51,840 calories into a person’s diet.

Furthermore, according to HowStuffWorks.com, an accumulation of 3,500 extra calories is stored by your body as one pound of fat. Therefore, by eating Bosco Sticks at five meals a week across a semester, as opposed to the fries or mozzarella sicks, the extra calories will account for 6.74 pounds of fat.

These numbers are hypothetical and don’t take into account the amount of exercise a person may do, but nonetheless show the food’s impact on one’s health.

NIU dining officials could not be reached for comment.