Food safety knowledge among tourism faculty undergraduates in Slovenia : Can social media leverage educational gaps?

Kukanja, Marko (author), Planinc, Saša (author)

Education on food safety is vital, especially for future tourism managers undergoing training at universities. This study aims to assess the food safety knowledge of student seniors in the two Slovenian public tourism faculties, compare it with previous European and Southeast European studies, and explore the impact of social media use on food safety knowledge among tourism students. The research method utilised a questionnaire-based approach that surveyed three academic years of students until 2023/2024 from the two Slovenian public tourism faculties. Data analysis involved descriptive and bivariate statistics. The research reveals a notable scarcity of studies investigating students’ food safety knowledge within the EU. The results indicate that the average food safety knowledge score among Slovenian tourism undergraduates was 52.6%, raising serious concerns as it is lower than such scores reported in similar studies outside the EU, in Serbia and in Turkey. Slovenian tourism undergraduates demonstrated low elementary knowledge about personal hygiene and the spread of foodborne diseases. Curricula analysis showed the absence of mandatory hygiene and food safety courses at Slovenian tourism faculties, and most students (64%) recognised the need for food safety knowledge education. The findings suggest that neither students’ work experience in the hospitality industry during their studies (compulsory education at the workplace should be provided for all persons involved in food processing) nor following the food safety information on social media could compensate for the lack of formal education. This study underscores the urgency of introducing a comprehensive food safety curriculum in Slovenian tourism faculties to ensure future managers are equipped with essential food safety knowledge.

• Language: English
• Keywords: food safety, knowlwdge, Slovenia, students, tourism faculty
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 81–100
• Numbering: Vol. 16, no. 2 (varia issue)
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-189442
• UDC: 338.48:614.31
• ISSN on article: 2232-2647
• DOI: 10.26529/cepsj.1809
• COBISS.SI-ID: 204512003
• Publication date in RUL: 07.10.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal = revija Centra za študij edukacijskih strategij
• Publisher: Pedagoška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-2647
• COBISS.SI-ID: 254029824

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Poznavanje varnosti hrane med študenti turizma v Sloveniji : Ali lahko družbeni mediji zapolnijo izobraževalno vrzel?

Abstract

Izobraževanje o varnosti hrane je ključnega pomena, še posebej za prihodnje turistične managerje. Namen te raziskave je oceniti znanje o varnosti hrane med študenti turizma v Sloveniji, ga primerjati s prejšnjimi evropskimi in jugovzhodnoevropskimi študijami ter raziskati vpliv uporabe družbenih medijev na znanje o varnosti hrane. Raziskovalna metoda je temeljila na anketnem vprašalniku, raziskovalni vzorec pa je zajemal tri akademska leta študentov (do leta 2023/24) na dveh slovenskih turističnih fakultetah. Analiza podatkov je vključevala deskriptivno in bivariatno statistiko. Raziskava je razkrila pomanjkanje študij, ki preučujejo poznavanje o varnosti hrane med študenti turizma v EU. Izsledki kažejo, da je povprečna ocena znanja o varnosti hrane med slovenskimi študenti turizma znašala 52,6 %, kar vzbuja skrb, saj je nižja od ocen iz podobnih študij, izvedenih zunaj EU (v Srbiji in Turčiji). Slovenski študentje turizma so pokazali sorazmerno nizko znanje o osebni higieni in širjenju bolezni, povezanih s hrano. Analiza učnih načrtov je pokazala pomanjkanje študijskih vsebin s področij higiene in sanitacije ter varnosti hrane na slovenskih fakultetah, kljub temu pa je večina študentov (64 %) prepoznala potrebo po izobraževanju o varnosti hrane. Ugotovitve nakazujejo, da niti delovne izkušnje študentov v gostinstvu med študijem niti (neformalno) spremljanje informacij o varnosti hrane na družbenih medijih ne more nadomestiti pomanjkanja znanja. Ta študija poudarja smiselnost uvedbe obveznih učnih vsebin s področja varnosti hrane.

• Keywords: varnost hrane, znanje, Slovenija, študentje, turizem, vzgoja in izobraževanje oseb s posebnimi potrebami