Boris Kovač

By Boris Kovač and Urška Blaznik

This chapter emphasizes the health outcomes connected with excessive salt consumption and focuses on possibilities to reduce dietary salt intake. The biggest reductions in salt consumption in the population could be achieved by comprehensive strategies involving population-wide policies (regulation, mandatory reformulation and food labelling). Salt reduction policies include the baseline identification of population’s salt consumption and major sources of salt in the diet, reformulation of a set number of products available on the market and increased awareness and knowledge on salt reduction at an individual level, creating an environment for salt reduction and the promotion of ‘healthy food’. Innovative reformulation by food industry, therefore, has the potential to contribute substantially. Flavours of processed foods could be improved by partially replacing salt with salt substitutes and flavour enhancers. One of the approaches of salt reduction is ‘gradual reduction without the consumer’s knowledge’, which refers to the observation that people in general are unable to differentiate between two substances in which the difference in salt content is low. It is suggested that increased knowledge and appropriate promotion of healthy food and healthy dietary habits, especially in early childhood in kindergartens, schools and at home, are the most promising measures for salt reduction.

Part of the book: Salt in the Earth

By Boris Kovač, Urška Petrič Les and Blanka Vombergar

Updating the curriculum should be viewed as a process by which meeting student needs leads to improvement in student learning. The chapter presents some key issues to updating the curriculum at the level of post-secondary professional higher programmes in Food and Nutrition. Innovations and changes must be continuously introduced into these study programmes, as a result of global trends, scientific progress, the changing needs of the users, and the opinions and experiences of stakeholders, which include both active students and graduates as well as the latter’s employers. An overview of the steps necessary for a successful revision of study programmes is given in the Introduction. The chapter briefly focuses on ways of obtaining data that are useful in the revision process. It emphasises the importance of introducing new developments in the profession, green and digital competences and new ways of practical teaching. The competences of the food and nutrition engineer and the model of inter-company training centres, which Slovenia is developing and introducing as an innovative model for practical training in Vocational Education programmes in food and nutrition, are briefly presented.

Part of the book: Technical and Vocational Education and Training