UAE Hopes New Food Labelling Policy To Make Eating Patterns Healthier - Minister

UAE Hopes New Food Labelling Policy to Make Eating Patterns Healthier - Minister

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) aims to encourage healthier eating patterns in the country by introducing a food labelling policy that uses traffic lights to indicate the amount of sugar, fats and salt in a product, Emirati Minister of State for Food Security Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri told Sputnik

DUBAI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2019) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) aims to encourage healthier eating patterns in the country by introducing a food labelling policy that uses traffic lights to indicate the amount of sugar, fats and salt in a product, Emirati Minister of State for Food Security Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri told Sputnik.

"We have developed and the Cabinet approved in August the nutritional labelling policy. It is based upon the traffic light system, which shows you red, orange, green on the amount of sugar, salt and the bad fats in a certain food. This gives consumers a tool to make better choices. Because, as we know, what we eat also influences the health of our body. And this makes a huge difference," Almheiri said.

The minister expressed confidence that the labelling policy was unlikely to create unfair competition grounds for the imported foods, which the UAE heavily relies on.

The Gulf country targets to reduce consumption of unhealthy foods by 15 percent by 2021 and also works on promoting the transition to sustainable food, according to the minister.

"When we look at sustainability, we are not just looking at the health of us as humans and what we eat, but also at the health of the planet. We need to make sure that what we are eating is not just good for ourselves, but also lies within the limits of planet Earth. We are also doing a lot of work on education and awareness, to try and get people to eat less meat and dairy and more vegetables and not so much processed foods," Almheiri noted.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly voiced concerns about the unhealthy eating habits in the UAE as the country reportedly has one the highest levels of obesity with almost 40 percent of the population falling under this category.