5 standards for educational institutions in Dubai for student nutrition safety

Dubai Municipality reported that it has established updated procedures for educational institutions in the emirate, regarding ensuring the safety of student nutrition in schools, coinciding with the start of the second semester of the academic year 2024-2025, explaining that the procedures included ensuring the provision of balanced and nutritious meals that meet the health needs of students.

The municipality confirmed to Emirates Today that these updated procedures are a crucial step to ensure the health and well-being of students in educational institutions, as they focus on precise standards, including determining the amounts of added sugar and total calories, in addition to enhancing the fiber content and other nutritional elements in each meal.

The municipality indicated that the standards include other important aspects, such as reducing saturated fats and salt, and ensuring the provision of a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, with the aim of supporting a healthy lifestyle for students. These guidelines also aim to ensure that the meals provided to students not only meet food safety and quality standards, but also contribute to enhancing their ability to focus and academic performance, which promotes a positive and healthy learning environment.

In a related context, Dubai Municipality, in the guide for educational institutions on its official website, through the technical guidance guide for educational institutions, regarding the quality of water in refrigerators and drinking water fountains, specified the necessity of placing refrigerators in appropriate (safe and clean) areas, and cleaning the refrigerator periodically according to The manufacturer, or according to the result of examining the cooler, tightly closing the refrigerant tanks to protect them from contaminants, maintaining the water coolers periodically, keeping records of maintenance and periodic inspection, in addition to taking a water sample for microbiological examination. And the chemical, according to the technical guidance guide for non-bottled drinking water issued by Dubai Municipality.

The guide also specified nine requirements for consumer products within educational institutions, indicating the need for cleaning, sterilization and disinfection materials used in educational institutions to be approved by the competent authorities, not to use products with misleading or inappropriate data, and not to have claims, pictures, illustrations and language that conflict with values ​​and customs. mainstream social.

The municipality pointed out that among the requirements are not to use containers of consumer products again for any purpose, disposing of them safely, providing a sticker showing the opening date on products whose expiration date depends on the opening date, and providing a sticker showing product data on refilled containers. Do not leave the product uncovered after use, do not use expired, spoiled, damaged, unauthorized, or laboratory-prohibited consumer products, and follow the instructions for using and storing consumer products, according to the information written on the product label.