Dubai Municipality launches service to monitor foods supplied to schools

Dubai - The service provides schools with the guidelines and nutritional requirements issued by the Dubai Municipality.

A new smart service to monitor the food supplied to school canteens has been launched, the Dubai Municipality announced on Tuesday.
The service enables suppliers and caterers to design menus compliant with the municipality specifications and get the approval electronically in real time.
Khalid Sharif Al Awadhi, CEO of the Dubai Municipality for Environment, Health and Safety Sector, said the new service will enable the management of canteens and establishments that supply food to schools to develop and share with parents the weekly food plan for meals provided.
"The system is an interactive platform, which allows suppliers to know the types of foods permitted to be offered and the prohibited items, enabling them to modify the meals provided in schools according to the information considered," he said.
The system will help reduce the number of visitors from food establishments to inquire about the municipality requirements, and the time required to issue permits and approvals.
Parents will be aware of the food information, which will be registered under the system to catering companies and schools, enabling them to analyse and determine their needs for different meals through the system.
The service provides schools with the guidelines and nutritional requirements issued by the Dubai Municipality to encourage them to provide healthy options of high nutritional value to students.
Through the platform, catering companies will be able to find out how to modify and format recipes to ensure it does not exceed the limit allowed by the Dubai Municipality. Last year, the municipality banned some food products in schools such as fried foods, energy drinks, soft drinks and chocolates to be replaced with products prepared using fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy products and legumes, while providing a wider diet for vegetarians.
Al Awadhi said the platform will ensure school's compliance to the nutritional guidelines.

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