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29 March 2024

Dubai bans junk food in school canteens

Published
By Staff

Schools in Dubai would soon receive new guidelines on the permitted as well as non-permitted food in school canteens, a Dubai Municipality (DM) official has revealed.

Chocolates, chips, soft drinks, as well as dairy products with artificial flavours would be banned from schools as DM in association with Dubai Health Authority (DHA) draw up a new healthy food policy in an attempt to alarming rates of obesity among studens.

The new guidelines have been finalised by experts in DM and DHA and would be effective from this academic session, Gulf News has reported.

"The guidelines are meant to encourage healthy eating habits among children by giving them the right options," the daily quoted Shaima Mohammad Al Tenaiji, Senior Food Studies and Surveys Officer, at DM’s Food Control Department as saying.

The move follows a surveillance of schools and catering establishments by the authorities amid growing concerns over obesity and lifestyle-related diseases among children.

Outlining the new rules, Wael Ahmad Bani Odeh, Enlightenment and Education Officer, DM, said the schools would be forced to ensure all students consume a balanced diet of food that contains all necessary nutrients. The guidelines will require them to cover five food types comprising cereals, dairy products and fats, vegetables, fruits, meat and poultry products.

The stipulations draw from the Food Pyramid 2010 which consists of a colour gradient system of different food groups where specific quantities are recommended for specific age groups across kindergarten, elementary, intermediate and secondary levels, he said.

The guidelines are very particular about the content of the permitted foods. For example, juices served must have a natural nectar content between 30-50 per cent, just as breads offered should preferably be made from wheat or whole grain, with the proportion of added sugar in starch foods not exceeding, 6gm/100gm.

At least three types of fresh seasonal fruits should be provided every day. Meats should be lean and skinless, while dairy and fat products should be low fat. Only pasteurised and UHT milk prepared from fresh milk (or processed) will be allowed, he noted.

Permitted foods

Carbohydrates : Wholegrains such as wheat, corn, barley, bulgur wheat

Vegetables: Dark green vegetables like spinach, radish, watercress, celery, parsley and others

Fruits: Variety of seasonal fruits

Dairy and fat products: Low-fat or fat-free varieties, milk and yoghurt with natural fruit

Meats, poultry and fish: Meat, poultry, fish, after removing the fat and skin. Lentils and beans can be added as an alternative to meat in soup

Banned foods
 
- Soft drinks

- Energy drinks

- Milk and yogurt with artificial flavours

- Chewing gum

- Lollipops

- Candies with dyes and sugar

- Pure chocolate

- Pofak

- Chips

- Foodstuffs containing monosodium glutamate

- High-fat foods such as burgers and other fried foods