United Arab Emirates targets trans fats elimination and salt cuts in new national nutrition strategy

05 Dec 2022 --- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has announced its National Nutrition Strategy for 2022-2030, in which it sets deadlines to reduce average salt intake by 30% and “virtually eliminate” industrial trans fats from the food supply. 

The new plan – revealed and debated last week by senior government officials at a panel discussion in Dubai – aims to combat malnutrition in children and high rates of obesity and cardiovascular diseases in adults.

According to statistics presented by Nouf Khamis Al Ali, director of the Health Promotion Department at MoHAP, 52% of adults are affected by cardiovascular diseases, 28% of adults and 17% of children are obese, 12% of adults have diabetes and 67% of adults consume more than the governement’s recommended amount of salt in the UAE.

In addition to trans fats elimination and salt reduction, the plan also aims to half the rate of obesity in children, half the rate of obesity and diabetes in adults, half the rate of anemia in women, reduce low birth weight by 30% and increase exclusive breastfeeding to more than 55%.

Officials highlighted during the panel discussion that the plan would also review the law around the advertising of unhealthy foods to children.

Trans fats, salt and sugar
The UAE’s national nutrition vision for 2030 will strive for universal access to healthy and environmentally sustainable diets, improved nutrition through the life course and malnutrition prevention. 

Basem Al Tarawneh, food standards expert at the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, said during the panel discussion: “One of the main specifications was to have a maximum of only 5% trans fats in food products, and it is aimed at a gradual reduction.”The new nutrition strategy sets out concrete targets to improve adult and children’s health.

The country had previously announced a complete ban on trans fats by 2023 in line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) advice, with the ingredient linked to an estimated half a million coronary heart disease-related deaths globally every year.

A technical committee has reportedly set the specifications for the food industry toward this goal, while workshops and meetings will be held with industry representatives in February 2023 to determine timelines for trans fats, sugar and salt reductions.

According to Nouf, food manufacturers have begun reducing salt in bread to meet the requirements of the National Nutrition Strategy 2017-2021.

“We are trying to do things in a way that will not impact businesses badly. We are also considering the taste factor. We know these ingredients are essential for keeping the taste and quality of food products,” she added during the panel discussion.

Think of the children
Meanwhile, the UAE’s new strategy sets specific targets for improved nutrition for children. This focus will reportedly include plans to accumulate baseline data for the prevalence of wasting, stunting and weight-related issues in children under five years.

Micronutrient supplementation, growth monitoring and a program to encourage breastfeeding were also spotlighted during the panel discussion.

“We are working on launching a program for the healthy raising of the young generation before school and pre-school. We are educating women about the importance of healthy food choices,” said Shaima Qayed, acting director of Clinical Nutrition at the Dubai Academic Health Corporation.

Meanwhile, the new plan also aims to address weight-related issues among students by focusing on school canteens. 

Aisha Al Sairi, head of the Transitional Team for Student Welfare and Protection Department at the Emirates Foundation for School Education, explained: “We will have an electronic system for the smart canteen for students to know what they are consuming and what we need to do for promoting healthy choices. Physical activities are part and parcel of the approach as per our national plan.”

Moreover, the 2030 strategy will reportedly work to unify nutrition guidelines in school canteens across the UAE.The UAE government is working with the WHO to reevaluate the advertising of unhealthy foods to children.

Attention to advertisements
During the panel discussion, Dr. Mariam Al Wahidi, director of the Community Health Department at Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre Department of Health, revealed that the MoHAP and Abu Dhabi Executive Office have partnered with the WHO to reassess the advertising of unhealthy foods to children.

“Advertising is very easy now with online platforms. We have worked on specifications for tobacco ads and ensured that tobacco ads are controlled. We have to work on ads promoting unhealthy foods also. The plan is to start with ads focussing on children and then move on to other age categories,” she said.

Moreover, Al Tarawneh reminded the panel that the country’s Food Safety Law regulates food and beverage advertising, adding that the MoHAP is currently reassessing the legal framework based on the WHO’s recommendations to better regulate the marketing of unhealthy products.

Work in progress
Government officials were keen to stress that the National Nutrition Strategy for 2022-2030 remains a work in progress, with discussions ongoing between stakeholders from federal and local governments and the industry.

Meanwhile, according to Nouf, the country has already delivered successfully against the ambitions of its National Nutrition Strategy 2017-2021.

“We have worked, for example, on improving exclusive breastfeeding, especially in the first six months of life. We have made nutrition guidelines that have been implemented in all government schools and certain private schools. We have also done a lot of promotional and awareness programs that aim to increase the level of knowledge and awareness among people,” she said.

“We have worked on different specifications, like the specification to reduce the salt in bread. We have worked on the traffic light label specification, the specification on the reduction of trans fats and a lot of other specifications, and we will continue the work.”

In related news, experts speaking at the recent Dubai Future Foundation stressed the importance of lab-grown meat for the future of human and planetary health.

By Joshua Poole