The UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention has issued new nutritional limits on packaged food products, targeting sodium, sugar and fat content in a bid to curb obesity and noncommunicable diseases nationwide. The rules apply to both locally manufactured and imported goods, including products coming through free zones.
Under the resolution, leavened bread must initially cut sodium to 444mg, sugar to 6g and fat to 8.4g per 100g, tightening further to 370mg sodium, 5g sugar and 7g fat by the final deadline. Flatbread faces similar staged reductions. Sweetened milk drinks must bring total sugar down from 9.6g to 8g, while flavoured yoghurt and laban must drop from 12g to 10g. Salty snacks and processed cheese also face defined sodium ceilings.
Non-compliant manufacturers and importers face a graduated response: a warning, fines ranging from Dh5,000 to Dh500,000, closure of the establishment for up to six months (renewable), and ultimately licence cancellation in coordination with the relevant authority.
Group 1 products — bread, sweetened drinks, yoghurt and salty snacks — have nine months to meet the first-phase limits, with a final deadline of December 31, 2030. Processed cheese, placed in Group 2, has two years and three months to reach its first-phase target, with the same 2030 final cut-off. Stock manufactured or imported before the rules take effect can still be sold for up to a year or until its expiry date, whichever comes first.
The move is part of a broader UAE public-health push to reduce rates of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, with federal and local health authorities tasked with monitoring compliance across the market.