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UAE Drafting Food Safety and Labelling Guidelines
DUBAI — The UAE is developing national food labelling and safety guidelines that will require all locally sold foodstuff to specify the nutritional value.
All fast food chains across the country will also be required to label their products under the guidelines.
The UAE National Strategy for Food Safety, being developed by the Ministry of Health and the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office for WHO will be implemented within two-four years.
The need for a clear labelling system arises as the UAE is battling the onslaught of diseases brought on by a poor lifestyle such as obesity and diabetes. Recently, the Unicef asked the UAE’s food and beverages industry to take responsibility for its contribution to the alarming level of obesity among children in the country.
“The labelling will have to clearly specify the nutritional value of the product including the total number of calories and fat content,” said Dr Mustafa Al Hashimi, Director of Preventive Health Department at the ministry.
The guidelines will be formulated by government and private sectors, including municipalities, school health departments at the Health and Education ministries, manufacturers, and will target all age groups in the community.
According to the official, the final choice of eating healthy food lies with the consumer. “Not all ‘junk food’ available is unhealthy. Grilled food and brown bread available at fast food chains are considered healthy, and the customer has to be informed of this,” he said. While the UAE imports foodstuff based on International Health Regulations (IHR) that require clear labelling, several local manufacturers have no such guidelines to follow.
“Ninety-five per cent of companies importing foodstuffs are already labelling their products. Once the national guidelines are enforced, local manufacturers will also have to strictly follow suit,” said Dr Al Hashimi.
Besides labelling, the strategy will also encompass a national food surveillance system. “The UAE will report to the WHO any local cases of food-borne diseases, damaged or diseased food products,” said the official.
Through the surveillance system, the ministry will also monitor the nutritional health of the people. “We will follow the nutritional patterns among the population and check for diseases caused by deficiencies such as Vitamin A, iodine and iron,” explained the official. During an international food safety conference held earlier this year, head of Dubai Municipality Hussain Nasser Lootah had said that food safety was receiving increased attention worldwide due to the important links between food and health.
The Gulf countries face a major challenge as imported food products meet 60 to 80 per cent of their overall food needs.They also face a challenge due to the change in the lifestyle brought on by the fast urbanisation process, cultural and educational gap of employees working in the food industry since they belong to more than 100 nationalities, and the mandatory compliance of animal-related food with the principles of Islamic Shariah. asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com
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