Abu Dhabi’s Department of Tourism and Culture will enforce a new law requiring healthy food options in hotels and restaurants starting October 1, 2026. The regulation aims to improve nutritional standards across the emirate's hospitality sector. It applies broadly to all hotel-operated venues and independent food and beverage outlets that hold a valid tourism licence. This move by the tourism authority seeks to standardise health offerings across the licensed dining landscape.
Under the new guidelines, menus for adults must include at least one healthy option in every specific category. This requirement covers appetisers, sides, mains, and desserts, ensuring diners have nutritious choices regardless of their meal preference. These items must strictly comply with the SEHHI classification, a standard designed to identify foods that are lower in fat, sugar, and salt while offering higher nutritional value. By adhering to these defined nutritional benchmarks, establishments ensure that the healthy designation carries specific meaning for consumers.
To help customers make informed decisions, venues must mark these compliant items with the SEHHI logo directly on the menu. The rules extend to children’s dining as well. Establishments must ensure that at least half of all items on children’s menus are healthy. To support this, chefs may adapt healthy adult dishes into smaller, child-appropriate portions without losing nutritional compliance. This flexibility allows venues to utilise existing healthy recipes to meet the strict 50% quota for younger guests.
The authority outlined several compliance requirements involving the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre. Establishments may be asked to submit menus for review and provide recipes or nutritional information for assessment. Outlets currently working with the centre to verify items will be considered compliant if they show constructive progress. As menus naturally evolve over time, operators must ensure the required minimum number of SEHHI-compliant options is maintained whenever items are added or replaced. Furthermore, any modification to previously approved healthy dishes requires re-submission to ensure the nutritional profile remains valid.
While the mandate is comprehensive, certain service models are exempt. Buffets and other formats without a specific menu are not included in the policy. However, venues offering buffets are still expected to provide reasonable healthy food options for customers. Tasting menus, which feature a fixed, curated selection of items, are also exempt from these specific labelling and percentage requirements. These exemptions account for the logistical differences in service styles while maintaining a general expectation for health-conscious availability.
