Restaurants will need to serve up more healthy choices from 1 October
Your next meal out in Abu Dhabi could come with a slightly healthier side – and no, we’re not talking about restaurants suddenly banning fries.
A new set of rules is shaking up menus across the capital, with hotel restaurants and food and beverage outlets operating under a valid DCT Abu Dhabi tourism licence now required to include a minimum number of healthy options.
The policy came into effect on 1 July 2026, but restaurants have been given a three-month grace period to get everything in order. From 1 October, the requirements become mandatory.
So, what does that mean for your dinner?
Essentially, restaurants need to make sure there’s at least one healthy option in every category on an adult menu.
That means starters, mains, sides and desserts should each have a dish that qualifies as healthy under the official SEHHI standards.
SEHHI is the approved healthy-food classification developed by the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC). It looks at things such as fat, sugar and salt levels, while also considering the overall nutritional value of a dish.
Once an item meets the requirements, it can be identified on the menu with the official SEHHI logo – making it easier for diners to spot the healthier choice without having to interrogate the waiter about every ingredient.
Kids’ menus are getting an even bigger shake-up
There’s a particularly interesting change for younger diners, too.
Restaurants must ensure that at least 50 percent of everything on a children’s menu qualifies as healthy according to the SEHHI criteria.
So while chicken nuggets and chips might not be disappearing anytime soon, there should be plenty more nutritious options making their way onto kids’ menus.
Restaurants can also adapt suitable healthy dishes from their adult menus into smaller, child-friendly portions to help meet the requirement.
Not every restaurant is included
There are a few exceptions. Buffets and service models without a specific menu, for example, are outside the mandatory requirements, although they’re still expected to make reasonable efforts to provide healthy choices.
Tasting menus are also excluded, as are certain niche F&B outlets with a very limited offering.
To qualify, these outlets must have no more than three food categories, no customer seating and no written menu beyond signage or display boards. Drinks-only outlets are also excluded.
For everyone else, the healthy-menu rules apply.
And restaurants can’t simply get their menu certified once and forget about it. If dishes are added or replaced, the required number of healthy options must still be maintained, while previously approved healthy dishes may need to be re-submitted for validation following changes.
Restaurants may also be asked to submit menus, recipes and nutritional information to the relevant authorities to demonstrate compliance.
Abu Dhabi’s restaurant scene is getting a little more health-conscious – one menu at a time.
