Claims of so-called health foods are not regulated in UAE

Dubai: Health foods in the UAE will soon come under the authority of the Health Ministry and the General Secretariat of Municipalities, to ensure consumers are not cheated or harmed.

Health foods, including nutritional supplements and energy bars, are currently unregulated in the UAE, not covered the Ministry of Health, which regulates pharmaceuticals, nor the General Secretariat of Municipalities (GSM), which regulates food products.

Abdullah Al Jumaibi, field operations manager at Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, told Gulf News said the ministry and the general secretariat were forming a committee to address the "grey area of foods with medical claims".

"If a food product is contaminated with E.coli, it is still (the GSM's responsibility). But what about foods that have medical claims, like nutritional supplements?"

"We are trying to make clear the definition and regulations regarding the issue," he said, on the sidelines of the Dubai International Food Safety Conference.

He added that the move was to protect consumer rights and ensure the safety of products.

Khalid Mohammad Sharif, head of the food control section at Dubai Municipality, said businesses would have to get approval from the new committee before they could market any health food product in the UAE.

"This includes power bars and energy bars. We have to test them for safety and see if their claims can be substantiated before they can be sold," he said.

The new committee will also have the authority to recall any current product that fail the safety test, or ask companies to modify their claims to keep the product on the market.

Officials from the ministry and GSM have been meeting regularly to set up the standards and regulations for the committee, although no deadline for completion has been set.

Failed inspections: Over 100 food closures

Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority closed 95 businesses, including factories, butcheries, supermarkets and restaurants, in 2007 and seven businesses in January this year for failing food safety inspections.

Abdullah Al Jumaibi, field operations manager at the food authority, told Gulf News a further 198 firms faced criminal charges last year.

He added the high number of closures showed the food authority's commitment to food safety and to protecting the public.