A word or phrase for people who eat together and share the same food

Is there a word or phrase for people who eat together at the same table (not necessarily regularly) and share the same food? I would need this word in the following passage:

______ around the table share the same food. Yet in each one this food is converted into what they need.

I would prefer a single word, but if there isn't one, I would accept other solutions, too.

Note: The register of language is rather formal.

I had thought of companions, but it is too general, it does not refer only to food. In my mother tongue there is a word that means "co-eater" or "co-tabler". I was wondering if a particular term or phrase exists in English to describe that.

Edit: Due to comments of some who were not sure of one detail in the connotation I have described here, I will add that share the same food refers to the same material food (whether the dishes they actually eat are identical or not is not important).

If no commonly used word or phrase is found, would it be okay to paraphrase it in this way:

People who eat together around the table share the same food. Yet in each one this food is converted into what they need.

From the SOED

commensal a. & n. 1 Eating at or pertaining to the same table. Late Middle English

• Commensals around the table share the same food. Yet in each one this food is converted into what they need.

This seems pleonastic, so, it is probably better to change it.

• Commensals share the same food. Yet in each one this food is converted into what they need.

(Ironically, the word you reject 'companions' started out with literally your desired meaning, from Latin con = together + panem = bread, but has evolved over time to something much broader and vaguer.)

In the military it is generally required or at least strongly customary for the personnel of a small(ish) unit to eat together, or if necessary due to space or kitchen limitations in large fractions like two halves or three thirds. This is called the 'mess', and the people who share it are messmates. But these (groups of) people share other activities -- and hardships and risks -- in addition to eating together, so the connotation is somewhat broader than you asked for.

Much less serious, but as long as I'm posting, in computer science a classic problem (category) in concurrency is conventionally stated in terms of 'dining philosphers'. In some extremely geeky environments you could refer to 'philosophers' and expect your hearers to make this connection.

Two people said to be eating together sharing the same food could be said to be communal. It is an adjective described by Merriam Webster here; I believe the 3rd definition is the most accurate for this situation:

3a: characterized by collective ownership and use of property

3b: participated in, shared, or used in common by members of a group or community

• a communal kitchen
• gathered for a communal meal

People gathering for a meal could be said to be communing. This is commonly referenced in the religious sense when some Christians will receive communion at church:

2a - capitalized : a Christian sacrament in which consecrated bread and wine are consumed as memorials of Christ's death or as symbols for the realization of a spiritual union between Christ and communicant or as the body and blood of Christ

2b: the act of receiving Communion

I will note that this is not as precise to food as @LPH answer of commensal, but I believe it is in much more common use. It has the added bonus of specifying that the two people are sharing the exact same thing, be it food, or other property. I think in this case I would describe two people sharing a plate as communal eaters, as they are sharing a communal plate.

This is not your requested one word, but colloquially I'd use the phrase "family style." That indicates eating shared dishes, not individual orders.

If the people who are eating together are providing the food themselves then the term "pot-luck" would be appropriate to describe the meal, not the diners.

potluck(Merriam-Webster): 1(b) - a communal meal to which people bring food to share — usually used attributively