Dubai: Diners will soon be able to verify if a healthy meal offered in an eatery is really healthy when Dubai Municipality begins implementing new regulations for restaurants and catering companies to make sure their nutritional claims are correct.
The guidelines on health claims by food service companies will be enforced from early next year, an official told Gulf News on the sidelines of the first Dubai International Conference of Applied Nutrition held alongside Gulfood Manufacturing 2016.
All claims about the health and nutritional benefits of foods provided by eateries and specialised food delivery services in Dubai will have to be backed up with documentary evidence and the nutritional value of foods items will be mentioned in the menus, said Jehaina Hassan Al Ali, principal food studies and surveys officer with the Food Safety Department of the municipality.
Food outlets making such claims will have to receive a new permit for advertising these claims. Their approved menus will be provided with a logo that will inform customers that the nutritional claims have been verified.
“We have drafted the guidelines. We are now collecting the feedback from the industry and testing it in pilot projects. Once we conclude the pilot projects, we will circulate the guidelines for implementation,” said Al Ali.
Firms making false and misleading claims will face action, she said. “Sometimes they highlight one healthy aspect and compromise on another which will not make the food healthy.”
Earlier, speaking at a session on initiatives to promote healthy food options in food businesses in Dubai, Al Ali said the municipality is also working closely with the industry to make sure healthier food options are available and affordable.
“We depend a lot on imported food which is mostly highly processed. There are some 4,000 outlets competing to provide food high in sugar, salt and fat and they are increasing the portion size at cheap rates…We don’t think it is very difficult to make healthy food at affordable rates. We are trying to find ways and solutions to make sure healthy options are available for affordable prices.”
One way to do this is to reformulate the dishes, she noted. “They can give the same dish by making slight changes in ingredients. Better to cut off or decrease some ingredients like salt, sugar and saturated oil because high consumption of such ingredients will, in the long run, lead to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.”
Uwe Micheel, executive chef at Radisson Blu Hotel in Dubai who represented the Emirates Culinary Guild, said chefs have to work with the authorities to offer healthier food options in more creative ways so that customers find them more appealing.
“But the big challenge here is the cost. We have a lot of people who would like to eat healthier food, but they can’t afford it. We as chefs need to work on providing healthy food that is affordable.”
