The UAE has just rolled out new limits on sodium (salt), sugar and fat in certain packaged foods. The aim is to achieve better nutrition for everyone, and fewer cases of obesity. As well as other long-term health conditions that aren’t passed from person to person. The Ministry of Health and Prevention says the resolution sets up a national framework to slowly cut back the targeted ingredients, improve the nutritional value of food products and support more balanced food choices. Keep reading all the important details you need to know. Including what fines companies will face for non-compliance.
Who Has To Follow The Rules?
Pretty much everyone along the food chain. That means production, manufacturing, preparation, processing, packaging, transport, import, storage, distribution, serving, display and sale. The rules apply to specified packaged foods made in the UAE or brought in from abroad, including products handled by companies in free zones. The limits will come down in stages, and they cover some of our everyday favourites: bread, sweetened milk drinks, flavoured yoghurt and laban, salty snacks and processed cheese.
There is one exception. Food made or imported only for direct export, or for onward export outside the UAE, doesn’t have to follow the limits, unless it’s sold within the country.
What Happens If Businesses Don’t Comply?
Food establishments that miss the limits could face penalties ranging from a warning to fines of between AED 5,000 and AED 500,000. Authorities can also shut down a violating establishment for up to six months (and the closure can be renewed), or cancel its licence or approval in coordination with the relevant licensing authority.
New Limits For Bread & Milk Drinks
The targeted foods are split into two groups with different deadlines. Group one covers bread, sweetened milk drinks, flavoured yoghurt and laban, and specified salty snacks. Group two is processed cheese.
Here’s how the numbers look, per 100g for bread:
- Leavened bread: The first-phase limit is 444mg of sodium, 6g of total sugars and 8.4g of total fat. In the final phase, that drops to 370mg of sodium, 5g of sugars and 7g of fat.
- Flat bread: The limits start at 384mg of sodium, 6g of total sugars and 8.4g of total fat, then fall to 320mg, 5g and 7g in the final phase.
For drinks and dairy:
- Sweetened milk drinks (including milk alternatives): The total sugar cap starts at 9.6g and falls to 8g in the final phase.
- Sweetened or flavoured yoghurt and laban: The limits go from 12g to 10g.
Sodium Caps For Snacks & Cheese
Salty snacks are also in the spotlight. Here’s how the sodium limits will shrink:
- Salted crackers: from 696mg down to 580mg
- Salted nuts and seeds: from 336mg down to 280mg
- Pretzels: from 912mg down to 760mg
- Extruded snacks and chips (made from potatoes, sweet potatoes, vegetables or grains): from 564mg down to 470mg
Then there’s processed cheese, the second group:
- Spreadable cheese: a maximum of 864mg of sodium in the first phase, dropping to 720mg in the final phase
- Other processed cheeses: from 1,200mg down to 1,000mg
How Long Do Businesses Have To Get Ready?
It depends on which group they’re in:
- Group one (bread, sweetened milk drinks, flavoured yoghurt and laban, and salty snacks): up to nine months from the date the resolution takes effect to meet the first-phase limits.
- Group two (processed cheese): up to two years and three months from the date the resolution takes effect to meet the first-phase limits.
Both groups then have to keep cutting the targeted ingredients and hit the final limits by December 31, 2030.
What about products already made or imported before the resolution takes effect? They can still be sold for up to one year from that date, or until they expire, whichever comes first. After that, products that don’t meet the limits can’t be traded.
Can Businesses Ask For An Exception To The Limit?
Yes, in some cases. If meeting the first-phase limit would mean cutting a targeted ingredient by more than 20 per cent of its established level in a product, a business can apply for an exception. This only applies to products that were manufactured, imported or traded in the UAE before the resolution takes effect.
Here’s what the process looks like:
- Applications must go to the Ministry within 30 days from the date the resolution takes effect.
- They need to include technical data, registered nutrition-label information and test results from an accredited laboratory.
- Businesses applying must commit to cutting the targeted ingredient by at least 20 per cent within the first-phase period.
An exception isn’t a free pass, though. The establishment or product still has to meet the maximum limits in the end, and the final deadline of December 31, 2030 can’t be pushed back.
Who Will Keep An Eye On All This?
Federal and local health authorities and other relevant bodies will be responsible for putting the rules into action and monitoring compliance, in coordination with the UAE Ministry.
In Other Sugar News: What You Need To Know About The New Sugar Tax In The UAE
