Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has adopted three new technical regulations aimed at promoting public health and encouraging healthy nutritional behaviors, in order to achieve the objectives of the Health Sector Transformation Program, one of the programs of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. The initiative comes as part of SFDA’s preventive efforts aimed at increasing human life expectancy and reducing rates of chronic diseases.

The regulations include disclosure of caffeine content in beverages, labelling of high-salt meals and physical activity labelling on menus at restaurants and cafes that serve food to consumers outside the home. The regulations will come into effect on July 1, 2025.

SFDA explained that the caffeine content disclosure regulation will require restaurants and cafes that serve drinks containing caffeine to clarify its quantity on menus, whether paper or electronic, so that the percentage is specified in milligrams per 100 ml or per cup. The menus must also state that the maximum caffeine consumption for an adult is 400 milligrams per day.

Restaurants and cafes will be required to place the “salt” label next to items containing more than five grams of salt, equivalent to 2,000 milligrams of sodium, on all menus, whether printed or digital, in addition to online food ordering platforms. This step aims to alert consumers to foods high in salt, which will help reduce excessive sodium consumption and prevent associated health problems.

The Physical Activity Labelling Regulation will require restaurants, cafes and online food ordering platforms that offer meals outside the home to clarify the time required to burn the calories resulting from consuming the meal, by adding an illustrative icon that shows the type of physical activity required to burn the calories for each food item, while specifying the time period required for burning in minutes or hours.

SFDA stressed that these preventive legislations are an extension of the Healthy Food Strategy launched in 2018, which aims to improve public health, provide appropriate food options for consumers, and enable them to adopt positive nutritional behaviors that enhance their nutritional awareness, through cooperation with service providers in the restaurant and café sector to ensure the efficient implementation of these legislations.