Dietary cooks are specialized chefs and professionals for needs-based diets. They independently prepare tasty, professional and creative culinary dishes that comply with medical prescriptions or take into account nutritional therapy measures. They usually work in the catering sector of nursing or retirement homes, hospitals, psychiatric clinics or in the health and wellness hotel industry. However, you can also work in individual catering or as a consultant.

Education:Until the end of 2021, the dietary chef apprenticeship was a one-year supplementary apprenticeship and built on the basic chef apprenticeship (EFZ). From 2022, it will now take the form of a professional examination (BP). The professional examination concludes with a federal certificate, which is welcomed by Swiss employers and opens doors to further training.

Relevance:Dietitians have specific expertise in how to improve the health and thus the well-being of people with various illnesses (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, allergies, etc.) and needs through nutrition.

These skills are not only in demand in the healthcare sector, but also in individual gastronomy, which is increasingly confronted with allergies and intolerances among its guests as well as various food trends. Diet cooks are therefore sought-after specialists on the job market, and their importance is likely to increase in the future.

Learning content:The training to become a dietary chef provides, among other things, knowledge of needs-based nutritional forms, dietetics, nutritional value calculations, quality assurance, food distribution systems, business management, forms of production as well as business organization and types of service.

Personal requirement:Experienced and creative chefs with a high level of social skills, the ability to work in a team, flexibility and resilience, who have a keen sense for food trends and would like to specialize in the field of dietary nutrition, make a good choice with the dietary chef training.