In the face of a rapid rise in the number of infections, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has confirmed to various newspapers that vaccination against tick borne encephalitis is now covered by basic Swiss health insurance. In 2018, 377 cases of infection were recorded, 40% more than in 2017 and three times […]
Question: Many parents hope their children will have lots of choice in life. But is this a recipe for happiness?
Dan Gilbert, the author of “Stumbling on Happiness,” challenges this idea. Gilbert thinks choice is the enemy of happiness and cites research to support his conclusions. For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Be careful eating Chinese fondue, says Swiss food safety agency
Chinese fondue is a culinary crossover between two nations. A dish that exists in both China and Switzerland. The Swiss version retains the communal pot of hot broth, thinly sliced raw meat and Chinese mushrooms of the original but departs radically in terms of flavour. The Chinese one uses chili, sesame and soya, while the […]
Toblerone quietly becomes halal
The iconic Swiss chocolate Toblerone quietly became halal earlier this year, according to the newspaper SonntagsBlick. Owned by the American food company Mondelez, Toblerone chocolate has been produced in conformity with islamic law since April 2018, said the newspaper. The product is not labelled halal. The recipe, which contains sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa […]
Swiss supermarkets selling products with no country of origin on label
Even when labelled properly food labels provide precious little information on what a product might contain. For example, a piece of farmed salmon will typically be labelled only with its country of origin, containing no information on what the fish has been fed. Contaminated fish feed can significantly push up the level of dioxins found […]
Swiss health insurance deductibles to be locked in for 3 years
One way to reduce the cost of compulsory Swiss health insurance is to choose a high deductible. Currently, some people do this and then postpone treatment until they’ve switched to a lower deductible the following year. Recently, Switzerland’s parliament voted 113 against 60 in favour of locking in deductibles for three years to reduce this […]
Famous Swiss vegetarian restaurant opens in Lausanne train station
On 7 December 2018, the restaurant chain Tibits, which has eight restaurants in German-speaking Switzerland, and one in London, opens its first restaurant west of the rösti graben*, in French-speaking Switzerland. Ahead of the launch of their first restaurant in 2000, three Swiss brothers, Christian, Daniel and Reto Frei, who had dreamt of creating quality […]
Men in Switzerland 27% more likely to die from cancer than women
Statistics released this week show that cancer death rates in Switzerland are far higher for men than women. The data covering the period from 2011 to 2015 show men are 29% more likely to suffer from cancer and 27% more likely to die from it. Cancer is Switzerland’s second biggest killer after heart disease. The […]
Geneva decides to ban the most polluting vehicles
On Friday, Geneva’s parliament voted in favour of a plan to progressively ban the most polluting vehicles from the city centre when air pollution reaches certain levels. While the legal details need to be worked out, the plan, which was put together by the canton’s executive, could be modeled on the French system. The French […]
Smoking soon to be banned on Swiss train platforms
Today, Switzerland’s public transport union (UTP) announced it would ban smoking on train platforms from 1 June 2019. From this date, smoking will only be allowed in designated smoking areas. The UTP hopes the ban will improve the comfort of passengers, reduce cleaning costs and better cater for both non-smokers and smokers. In Switzerland, platform […]
