By Muhammad Al-Abdullah

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

DAMMAM — Some restaurants and cafes failed to display calories on the menus of meals provided by them as the mandatory compliance of the directive issued by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) came into force on Tuesday.

Inspection teams from mayoralties and branch municipalities across the Kingdom have started raids on restaurants and cafes to check violations of the directive.

Ziyad Mugharbil, head of the municipality in Qatif governorate, said the municipality has constituted four teams to inspect the restaurants and cafes in the region.

“The teams raided as many as 50 food outlets, including restaurants, cafes, ice cream and juice parlors, bakeries, confectionary shops and cafeterias. Most of these outlets were found compliant to the directive of displaying calorie lists in their premises,” he said.

Dr. Saad Al-Dahlawi, head of the environmental health at Imam Abdurahman Bin Faisal University, said that the SFDA decision is a significant step to ensure provision of diet food that would bring down the level of fat in food intake.

“This initiative will help consumers know the amount of calories they need to take on a daily basis,” he said.

Speaking to Okas/Saudi Gazette, several citizens praised the SFDA initiative, saying this is a delayed step that will be beneficial for the people to lead a healthy life.

The SFDA embarked on this initiative, in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Consumer Protection Association.

The authority started implementing the initiative in two phases. In the first phase, it made listing calories on menu cards optional in 2017 and made it mandatory from 1 Jan. 2019. This initiative comes as part of the efforts to safeguard consumers’ health and create awareness about the importance of knowing the nutritional value of meals and drinks provided by restaurants and cafes.

The SFDA specified the criteria for food and drinks whose calories ought to be displayed on the menu. It also prepared awareness material and a guidebook for restaurant and café owners to acquaint them with the method of displaying calories.

According to the guidebook, the calorie list on the menu of restaurants and cafes should include content information such as nutrition, calories, protein, vitamins, minerals, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, total sugar, added sugar and the like.

The average daily diet content for an ordinary individual should not exceed 2,000 calories as per the diet content regulations.