Slovenia

INFORMAS in Slovenia is run by two research organisations:

At NUTRIS, INFORMAS benchmarking is implemented into the Slovenian national research programme “Nutrition and Public Health”, funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (SRA), and European Commission Horizon 2020 project FNS Cloud. Several research projects were funded by the Ministry of health of Republic of Slovenia and SRA under the umbrella of this research programme, enabling extensive monitoring of the food supply in retail environments. The first food labelling and composition data collection was conducted back in 2011, while more extensive collection was conducted in years 2015, 2017 and 2020. The data collection included taking photographs of all foods, and also food prices, and special software was developed to support data collection (CLAS – Composition and Labelling Information System). The Slovenian team also focus on evaluation of food promotion. The data on the television advertising of foods has been collected for years 2015-2016-2017.

NIJZ is the national umbrella public health institution covering food and nutrition, physical activity and obesity among other topics, supporting the national government with health-in-all-policies and evidence-based arguments for action. NIJZ is conducting the INFORMAS Public Sector Policies and Actions (Food-EPI) module. The work is conducted within the STOP (Science & Technology Childhood Obesity Policy) project, funded by the European commission Horizon 2020 programme. Currently evidence collection is underway using common indicators and a common template. There are linkages with the PEN project. NIJZ is developing an innovative approach to using the Food-EPI model for evaluation of the national food and nutrition policy, based on our previous experiences (follow this link for more detail). 

Research results are important for evaluation of the changes in the Slovenian food supply, and conduct of the Slovenian Resolution on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Health 2015-2025. The Slovenian team is collaborating closely with national authorities and other stakeholders interested in mapping the healthiness of food environments. The collected data is currently being analysed for presentation to stakeholders and scientific publication. Several publications have already been published on topics related to the INFORMAS modules. 

For any queries related to INFORMAS in Slovenia, please contact

  • Nutrition Institute (NUTRIS), Trzaska cesta 40, 1000 Ljubljana. Telephone: +386 590 68870. Fax.+386 5 9068 870. E-mail: info@nutris.org
  • National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ). Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana. Telephone: +386 1 2441 400. Fax: +386 1 2441 447. E-mail: info@nijz.si

 

Professor Igor Pravst

Professor of Nutrition
Head of Nutrition and Public Health Research Group
Nutrition Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: +386 590 68870

Email: Professor Igor Pravst
URL: Web page

Dr Anita Kušar

Nutrition and Public Health Research Group; Researcher
Nutrition Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Phone: +386 590 68870

Email: Dr Anita Kušar

URL: Web page            

Dr Katja Žmitek

Nutrition and Public Health Research Group; Researcher
Nutrition Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Phone: +386 590 68870

Email: Dr Katja Žmitek

URL: Web page

Dr. Mojca Gabrijelčič Blenkuš

Head of the Centre for Analyses and Development of Health,

National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), Ljubljana, Slovenia

Email: prehrana@nijz.si
URL: https://www.nijz.si/sl/science-and-technology-in-childhood-obesity-policy-stop

 

Ingrid Sotlar

Sanitary Engineer II, Center for Analyses and Development of Health,

National Institute of Public Health (NIJZ), Ljubljana, Slovenia

Phone: +38612441716

Email: Ingrid.sotlar@nijz.si 

Module

Status (as of December 2019)

Outputs

Public Sector (Food EPI)

    
Private Sector    
Food Composition
  • Full data collection available for 2015, 2017 and 2020. Comparisons possible with year 2011. Some results already published.
  1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27
Food Labelling  

  • Full data collection available for 2015, 2017 and 2020. Comparisons possible with year 2011. Some results already published.
  2, 3, 4, 20, 21, 23, 24
Food Promotion  

  • Television: published
  • Magazines: published
  • Social media/Facebook: planned
  • Internet: planned
  • Sports sponsorship: /
  • Outdoor advertising: /
  7, 9, 14, 17, 20, 25
Food Prices  

  • Data collection completed (2015, 2017, 2020)
  
Food Retail  

  • In-store: Full data collection started in 2015. Comparisons possible with year 2011. Some results already published.
  12
Food Provision
  • Hospitals: data collection completed
  22
Food Trade & Investment    
  1. LAVRIŠA, Živa, PRAVST, Igor. Assessing the average sodium content of prepacked foods with nutrition declarations: the importance of sales data. Nutrients, 2014, 9(6): 3501-3515, doi: 3390/nu6093501
  2. DEBELJAK, Katarina, PRAVST, Igor, KOŠMELJ, Katarina, KAČ, Milica. ˝Healthier˝ and ˝less heathy˝ classifications according to three nutrient profiling systems relative to nutrition and health claims on food labels. Acta alimentaria, 2015, 44(4): 561-569, doi: 1556/066.2015.44.0028
  3. PRAVST, Igor, KUŠAR, Anita. Consumers’ exposure to nutrition and health claims on pre-packed foods: use of sales weighting for assessing the food supply in Slovenia. Nutrients, 2015, 7(11): 9353-9368, doi: 3390/nu7115474
  4. HIEKE, Sophie, KULJANIC, N., PRAVST, Igor, MIKLAVEC, Krista, KAUR, A., BROWN, Kerry Ann, EGAN, Bernadette M., PFEIFER, Katja, GRACIA, Azucena, RAYNER, Mike. Prevalence of nutrition and health-related claims on pre-packaged foods: a five-country study in Europe. Nutrients, 2016, 8(3): 1-17, doi: 3390/nu8030137
  5. ŽMITEK, Katja, PRAVST, Igor. Iodisation of salt in Slovenia: increased availability of non-iodised salt in the food supply. Nutrients, 2016, 7(8):1-7, doi: 3390/nu8070434
  6. KAUR, Asha, SCARBOROUGH, P., HIEKE, Sophie, KUŠAR, Anita, PRAVST, Igor, RAATS, Monique, RAYNER, Mike. The nutritional quality of foods carrying health-related claims in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. European journal of clinical nutrition, 2016, 70: 1388-1395, doi: 1038/ejcn.2016.114
  7. LAVRIŠA, Živa, PRAVST, Igor. Television food advertising to children in Slovenia: analyses using a large 12-month advertising dataset. International Journal of Public Health, 2016, 61(9): 1049-1057, doi: 1007/s00038-016-0896-7
  8. PRAVST, Igor, LAVRIŠA, Živa, KUŠAR, Anita, MIKLAVEC, Krista, ŽMITEK, Katja. Changes in average sodium content of prepacked foods in Slovenia during 2011-2015. Nutrients, 2017, 9(9): 1-11, doi: 3390/nu9090952
  9. LAVRIŠA, Živa, ERJAVEC, Karmen, PRAVST, Igor. Trends in marketing foods to children in Slovenian magazines: a content analysis. Public health nutrition, 2018, 21(18): 3344-3353, doi: 1017/S1368980018002513
  10. ZUPANIČ, Nina, HRIBAR, Maša, PIVK KUPIROVIČ, Urška, KUŠAR, Anita, ŽMITEK, Katja, PRAVST, Igor. Limiting trans fats in foods: use of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils in prepacked foods in Slovenia. Nutrients, 2018, 10(3), doi: 3390/nu10030355
  11. ZUPANIČ, Nina, MIKLAVEC, Krista, KUŠAR, Anita, ŽMITEK, Katja, FIDLER MIS, Nataša, PRAVST, Igor. Total and free sugar content of pre-packaged foods and non-alcoholic beverages in Slovenia. Nutrients, 2018, 10(2):151, doi: 3390/nu10020151
  12. ZUPANIČ, Nina, PRAVST, Igor. Conference abstract: Free sugar content in sugar-sweetened beverages in Slovenia. European journal of public health, 2018, 28(S4): 176-177, doi: 1093/eurpub/cky213.519
  13. DUNFORD, E. K., NI MHURCHU, C., VANDEVIJVERE, S., SWINBURN, B., KUŠAR, Anita, PRAVST, Igor, TOLENTINO-MAYO, L., REYES, M., L’ABBE, M., NEAL, B. C. Conference abstract (EPH 2018): The comparative healthiness of 367,500 packaged food and beverages from 12 countries. European journal of public health, 2018, 28 (S4): 232-233, doi: 1093/eurpub/cky213.680
  14. KELLY, B., VANDEVIJVERE, S., HOE, N. S., PRAVST, Igor, BOYLAND, E., ROYO-BORDONADA, M. A., CALLEJA, P., POTVIN KENT, M., JAICHUEN, N., KARUPAIAH, T., ALLEMANDI, L., COSENZA, E. L., TUTUO WATE, J., ZAMORA-CORRALES, I., GONZÁLEZ-ZAPATA, L. I., MCHIZA, Z. J. R., ZENG, L., SWINBURN, B. Conference abstract (EPH 2018): Benchmarking children’s potential exposures to television unhealthy food advertising globally. European journal of public health, 2018, 28(S4): 231-232, doi: 1093/eurpub/cky213.676
  15. PIVK KUPIROVIČ Urška, MIKLVEC Krista, HRIBAR Maša, KUŠAR Anita, ŽMITEK Katja, PRAVST Igor, Nutrient profiling is needed to improve the nutritional quality of the foods labelled with health-related claims. Nutrients 2019, 11(2), 287; doi: 3390/nu11020287
  16. ABRAMOVIČ, Helena, VIDRIH, Rajko, ZLATIĆ, Emil, KOKALJ, Doris, SCHREINER, Matthias, ŽMITEK, Katja, KUŠAR, Anita, PRAVST, Igor. Trans fatty acids in margarines and shortenings in the food supply in Slovenia. Journal of food composition and analysis. 2018, 74(53-61). DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2018.08.007.
  17. KELLY, Bridget, MIKLAVEC, Krista, PRAVST, Igor, et al. Global benchmarking of children’s exposure to television advertising of unhealthy foods and beverages across 22 countries. Obesity reviews. 2019, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/obr.12840 , DOI: 10.1111/obr.12840.
  18. DUNFORD, Elizabeth K., NI MHURCHU, Cliona, HUANG, Liping, VANDEVIJVERE, Stefanie, SWINBURN, Boyd, PRAVST, Igor, TOLENTINO-MAYO, Lizbeth, REYES, Marcela, L’ABBE, Mary, NEAL, Bruce C., et al. A comparison of the healthiness of packaged foods and beverages from 12 countries using the Health Star Rating nutrient profiling system, 2013-2018. Obesity reviews. 2019, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/obr.12879, DOI: 10.1111/obr.12879.
  19. ZUPANIČ, Nina, HRIBAR, Maša, FIDLER MIS, Nataša, PRAVST, Igor. Free sugar content in pre-packaged products: does voluntary product reformulation work in practice?. Nutrients. 2019, 11(11): 1-14. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/11/2577 , DOI: 10.3390/nu11112577.
  20. LAVRIŠA, Živa, PRAVST, Igor. Marketing of foods to children through food packaging is almost exclusively linked to unhealthy foods. Nutrients. 2019, 11(5): 1-11, https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/5/1128 , DOI: 10.3390/nu11051128.
  21. PIVK KUPIROVIČ, Urška, MIKLAVEC, Krista, HRIBAR, Maša, KUŠAR, Anita, ŽMITEK, Katja, PRAVST, Igor. Nutrient profiling is needed to improve the nutritional quality of the foods labelled with health-related claims. Nutrients. 2019, 11(2): 1-15, https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/2/287, DOI: 10.3390/nu11020287.
  22. ROZMAN, Urška, PRAVST, Igor, PIVK KUPIROVIČ, Urška, BLAZNIK, Urška, KOCBEK, Primož, ŠOSTAR-TURK, Sonja. Sweet, fat and salty: snacks in vending machines in health and social care institutions in Slovenia. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2020, 17(19): 1-12, https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7059/htm, DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17197059.
  23. PIVK KUPIROVIČ, Urška, HRISTOV, Hristo, HRIBAR, Maša, LAVRIŠA, Živa, PRAVST, Igor. Facilitating consumers choice of healthier foods: a comparison of different front-of-package labelling schemes using Slovenian food supply database. Foods. 2020, 9(4): 1-16, https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/4/399, DOI: 10.3390/foods9040399.
  24. LAVRIŠA, Živa, HRIBAR, Maša, KUŠAR, Anita, ŽMITEK, Katja, PRAVST, Igor. Nutritional composition of gluten-free labelled foods in the Slovenian food supply. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2020. 17(21): 1-13. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/8239 , DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17218239.
  25. LAVRIŠA, Živa, HRISTOV, Hristo, KELLY, Bridget, PRAVST, Igor. Regulating children’s exposure to food marketing on television : are the restrictions during children’s programmes enough?. Appetite. 2020, 154(8). DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.104752.
  26. KUŠAR, Anita, HRIBAR, Maša, LAVRIŠA, Živa, ZUPANIČ, Nina, PIVK KUPIROVIČ, Urška, HRISTOV, Hristo, ABRAMOVIČ, Helena, VIDRIH, Rajko, ZLATIĆ, Emil, KOKALJ, Doris, PISKERNIK, Saša, MENCIN, Marjeta, PEČE, Petra, BLAZNIK, Urška, ŽMITEK, Katja, PRAVST, Igor. Assessment of trans-fatty acid content in a sample of foods from the Slovenian food supply using a sales-weighting approach. Public health nutrition. 2021, 24(1): 12-21. DOI: 10.1017/S1368980020001949.
  27. HAFNER, Edvina, HRIBAR, Maša, HRISTOV, Hristo, KUŠAR, Anita, ŽMITEK, Katja, ROE, Mark, PRAVST, Igor. Trends in the use of low and no-calorie sweeteners in non-alcoholic beverages in Slovenia. Foods. 2021, 10 (2); https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/10/2/387, DOI: 10.3390/foods10020387.
  • Slovenian Research Agency
  • Ministry of Health of Republic of Slovenia
  • European Commission / Horizon 2020 programme