Nutritional status of the Swiss population
Until 2016, the data situation regarding food consumption and the nutritional status of the Swiss population was inadequate and data from other countries were not directly applicable to Switzerland. Research in the area of nutrition focuses on the capture of the necessary data and the specification of dietary recommendations. Another aspect that plays an important role in adapting dietary recommendations for Switzerland is the nutritional composition of the food available here. The following priorities have been established:
- National survey of food consumption in the Swiss population;
- Swiss database of nutritional values;
- Biomonitoring of the nutritional status of the entire population and of specific population groups with respect to iodine, sodium, vitamin D, dioxin burden etc.;
- Collaboration with the food industry to achieve a significant reduction in the salt, saturated fat and sugar content of the major food categories in Switzerland;
- Development of tools to enable consumers to interpret the information on food packaging correctly in the everyday setting and thus to make a conscious decision in favour of healthy choices.