UAE food companies face fines up to Dh500,000 for breaching ingredient limits

Dubai: New limits on sodium, sugar and fat in selected food products are intended to improve their nutritional value while preserving the taste and texture consumers recognise, the Ministry of Health and Prevention has confirmed.

The rules, which began taking effect on 1 October, cover specified locally manufactured and imported products. Food companies will use modern techniques and innovations to reduce the targeted ingredients while maintaining familiar product characteristics.

Implementation will be phased through the end of 2030, giving manufacturers time to reformulate their recipes and addressing concerns about sudden changes in flavour. The ministry’s aim is to balance better nutrition with the enjoyment of food. 

Nouf Khamis Al Ali, Director of the ministry’s Health Promotion Department, said the relationship between food, enjoyment, memories and social gatherings had been considered from the outset.

The intention is to improve products in ways that support public health while preserving the consumer experience, so people would not have to choose between healthier food and food they enjoy.

She added that the ministry had examined techniques manufacturers could adopt to compensate for reductions in ingredients such as salt and sugar without compromising flavour or texture.

Gradual changes would give companies more time to adapt existing recipes and allow consumers to adjust to any differences in taste.

Study finds high sodium consumption

Speaking to the media, Al Ali explained that the decision targets ingredients whose excessive consumption is associated with health problems including obesity, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

She cited a ministry study conducted during 2024 and 2025 which found that 96 per cent of those studied exceeded recommended salt consumption levels. Average sodium intake was about 5,000 milligrams a day, compared with the recommended level of 2,000 milligrams cited by the ministry.

The policy seeks to make healthier choices easier, she noted. Consumers often shop in a hurry and do not always have time to read nutrition labels and compare products. Reducing the targeted ingredients would improve the nutritional composition of specified foods without requiring shoppers to search separately for alternatives.

Food companies had been involved from the start, with discussions giving them an opportunity to explore solutions and technologies available locally and internationally.

Al Ali stressed, however, that reformulating products did not mean they could be eaten in unlimited quantities. Reducing sodium, sugar and fat does not eliminate their calorie content.

Inspections and laboratory testing

The ministry has developed a monitoring plan with health and regulatory authorities across the country to oversee implementation and ensure food businesses comply with the specified limits.

The plan includes inspections of products and premises, sampling of foods sold in shops and laboratory testing. Non-compliant businesses face action including warnings, financial penalties and the withdrawal of offending products from the market, under approved procedures.

Al Ali emphasised that issuing the decision was only the beginning. Implementation would require sustained monitoring, inspections, sampling and testing, alongside action against businesses that fail to comply.

Achieving the policy’s objectives would take time and coordination between different health interventions, she observed; the results could not be delivered overnight.

Fines of up to Dh500,000

The decision, intended to improve public health and reduce obesity and other non-communicable diseases associated with unhealthy diets, provides for administrative penalties when businesses breach ingredient limits or handle non-compliant products.

Penalties will depend on the seriousness of the breach, the circumstances in which it occurred and whether it has been repeated.

They include warnings, fines ranging from Dh5,000 to Dh500,000, and administrative closure for up to six months, subject to renewal. A business’s licence or approval may also be cancelled in coordination with the relevant licensing authority.

The Cabinet will issue a schedule of offences and administrative penalties on the proposal of the Minister of Health and Prevention, following coordination with the relevant authorities. The minister will also issue the decisions needed to implement the rules in coordination with health authorities and other bodies concerned.