UAE Food Labeling Requirements 2026: Standards, Dates and Penalties

Every prepackaged food sold in the UAE is checked against its label. Importers submit artwork for label assessment before goods enter the country, and in Dubai newly registered imports can be sampled and tested. If a laboratory finds an ingredient or additive that the label does not declare, the item is rejected. For manufacturers, importers and distributors, the label is often where a UAE launch either clears quickly or stalls.

This guide covers the rules behind a UAE food label in 2026: the labeling technical regulation, the Arabic rule, date marking, nutrition labeling, additives under UAE.S 192:2019, allergens, halal and GMO statements, Abu Dhabi's Nutri-Mark and federal penalties. Standards are revised periodically, so confirm the edition in force with the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) or your emirate's food authority before printing packaging.

Key Takeaways

UAE.S GSO 9, "Labeling of Prepackaged Food Stuffs", is the core labeling technical regulation. The standards work once done by ESMA has sat with MoIAT since ESMA was merged into the ministry in July 2020.
Arabic is mandatory. English is optional. If you add English or any other language, that information must be identical to the Arabic.
Date format depends on shelf life. Products with a shelf life of three months or less need day/month/year. Longer-life products may use day/month/year or month/year. Dates go on the original pack, never on a sticker.
UAE.S 192:2019 is the food additives regulation, not a general labeling rule. It adds a warning for six synthetic colours and requires the source of gelatin, lecithins and mono- and diglycerides to be declared.
Nutri-Mark is an Abu Dhabi scheme from ADQCC and ADPHC. It was announced as mandatory from 1 June 2025 for five product categories, but that deadline was postponed and the scheme remains voluntary. Confirm the current status with QCC.
Penalties are set by Federal Law No. 10 of 2015. Trading in adulterated, harmful or rotten food carries a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 2,000,000, imprisonment of at least three months, or either penalty.

Who Regulates Food Labels in the UAE

Federal standards and law set the requirements. Emirate-level authorities run registration, label assessment, inspection and enforcement.

MoIAT (formerly ESMA)

The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology was established in July 2020. The Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) was merged into its structure, so older documents that say "ESMA standard" now fall under MoIAT. The ministry's Standardization Affairs Sector prepares national standards and technical regulations. Many UAE food standards adopt texts from the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), which is why labeling standards often carry a "UAE.S GSO" prefix.

ZAD, the national food registration portal

In 2018 the UAE introduced the National Scheme for Food Accreditation and Registration. It created an electronic food registration portal known as ZAD. Importers use it to register food items and request label assessment. Registration checks that a product meets UAE technical regulations, including those on labeling, shelf life and halal requirements.

Dubai Municipality

Dubai importers register products and obtain label approval through Dubai Municipality's Food Import and Re-export System (FIRS) or ZADI, Dubai's integrated food import platform. According to the US Department of Agriculture's 2022 UAE report, each pack size counts as a separate item, any change to packaging, weight, label or barcode needs a label re-assessment, and first-time registrations can be laboratory tested.

Dubai Municipality's Montaji platform is its registration and verification system for regulated consumer products, such as health supplements, cosmetics and food contact materials. Check which system applies to your product category before you submit.

ADAFSA in Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) launched FIEMIS, the Food Import and Export Management Information System, in October 2022. Through it, food importers and exporters can complete ADAFSA services online, including company registration, product registration, inspection requests and customs declarations, and can track shipments. In the other emirates, label assessment sits with each municipality's food control department.

Mandatory Label Content Under UAE.S GSO 9

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The UAE applies GSO 9, "Labeling of Prepackaged Food Stuffs", as a technical regulation. USDA's 2022 report refers to UAE.S GSO 9:2019. At GCC level, GSO has since published GSO 9:2022 and an amendment, GSO 9:2022/Amd1:2025. Check with MoIAT which edition applies to your product on the date you register it. USDA's report summarises the core label content as follows.

Element	What the label needs
Name of the food	Shown in a prominent position
Ingredients	Listed in descending order of proportion
Food additives	Declared with their functional class (see the additives section below)
Nutrition declaration	As required by UAE.S GSO 2233
Net contents	Weight or volume in accepted units
Manufacturer	Name and address of the manufacturer, or of the packer if different
Country of origin	The producing country
Dates	Production and expiry dates for products with a mandatory shelf life
Storage conditions	Where the validity of the date depends on them
Instructions for use	Where needed
Animal source	If the food or any ingredient contains animal content
Warnings and declarations	Any mandatory warning or advisory statements, and use of irradiation
Lot number	Production batch declared in code or another indelible mark

Barcodes must be unique. You cannot re-register a barcode against a different item description, such as a different weight, brand or recipe. Products containing pork must meet the general labeling requirements and state clearly that they contain pork. Products for institutional use (catering rather than retail) can be accepted without an Arabic label, but cannot be sold in retail stores unless an Arabic label is added.

The Arabic Language Rule

The rule is often overstated as "everything in Arabic and English". In fact, labels must be in Arabic. Other languages are allowed alongside the Arabic, and any information given in another language must be identical to the Arabic text. As the US International Trade Administration puts it, labels must be in Arabic only or Arabic and English. English is optional, though many imported products are bilingual in practice.

Imported products can use an Arabic sticker instead of reprinting packaging, subject to strict conditions:

Stickers must be approved by UAE authorities during label assessment before use.
For imports, stickering must be done before export. It cannot be done when goods arrive in the UAE.
Use a single sticker. It must not hide required information, contradict the original label, or come off easily.
The sticker must not carry production or expiry dates that differ from the original label. Dates printed only on a sticker are not accepted.

At minimum, the Arabic label or sticker must give the product name, ingredients, country of origin and, where applicable, storage conditions, instructions for use and nutritional information. Because the Arabic text is the reference, use a translator who knows food terminology and check it against the English line by line.

Date Marking Requirements

Date marking is easy to get wrong on imported artwork. Under UAE.S 9:2019, as summarised by USDA:

Shelf life	Required format	Example
Three months or less	Day/month/year	15/06/2026
Longer than three months	Day/month/year or month/year	06/2026 or June 2026

With the month/year format, the last day of that month counts as the expiry date. The month can be written as a number or a word.
Only one set of production and expiry dates is allowed on a pack.
Dates must be engraved, embossed, printed or stamped in indelible ink directly on the original label or primary packaging. A barcode cannot replace an expiry date.
Introduce the expiry date with an accepted phrase such as "Expiration", "Use by" or "Best before".

Some foods, including fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, non-fortified salt, solid sugar, chewing gum, loose tea, dry cereals and spices, are exempt from an expiry date but still need a production date, harvest year or packing date. Mandatory shelf-life periods for specific foods are set separately in UAE.S 150-1, so check it before fixing a shelf life.

Nutrition Labeling

UAE.S GSO 2233:2021, "Requirements of Nutritional Labeling", makes a nutrition declaration mandatory on prepackaged food intended to be eaten directly or after heating. USDA summarises the core requirements:

Declare the nutritive value, including energy, protein, carbohydrates, fats and dietary fibre.
Declare each vitamin, mineral or other nutrient added as an ingredient separately.
Express values per 100 g or 100 ml, or per serving as specified by the manufacturer.
Use gram, mg, µg or IU, and kilocalories for energy.

Nutrition and health claims are governed by UAE.S GSO 2333:2019 and the Codex general guidelines on claims. Claims are not permitted on foods for infants and young children unless a specific standard allows them, and health claims must be supported by evidence. The UAE's traffic-light front-of-pack standard, UAE.S 5034:2018, was changed from mandatory to voluntary by the UAE Cabinet in December 2021.

Abu Dhabi's Nutri-Mark

Nutri-Mark is a front-of-pack nutrition grade launched by the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (ADQCC) and the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC). It is not an ESMA or MoIAT scheme. Announced in November 2024, it grades products from A (highest nutritional value) to E (lowest), each with its own colour.

Nutri-Mark was announced as mandatory in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from 1 June 2025 for five first-phase categories: baked goods, oils, dairy products, beverages, and children's food such as cereals and snacks. Days before that date, ADQCC and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health postponed the mandatory phase to the fourth quarter of 2025 (WAM, 30 May 2025), and reports in 2026 describe the scheme as still voluntary with no mandatory date announced. The penalties described at launch, such as withdrawing unmarked products, therefore have not taken effect. A later phase is planned to cover non-packaged food. For the grading method, covered categories and registration steps, see our Abu Dhabi Nutri-Mark guide.

Food Additives Under UAE.S 192:2019

UAE.S 192:2019 is often wrongly described as a labeling directive. It is the UAE technical regulation "Additives Permitted for Use in Food Stuffs", approved in October 2019. It covers which additives may be used, in which foods, and at what maximum levels.

What the standard covers

Approved references. Permitted additives and maximum use levels follow the Codex General Standard for Food Additives and the relevant EU additive regulations. Additives may be used only in the food categories those references allow, and within the maximum levels.
Unlisted additives. Where Codex and EU lists are silent, competent authorities can assess an additive on scientific and legislative justification from the applicant.
Islamic law. Additives that violate Islamic law are prohibited. This includes additives containing or made from pork products, and ethanol, except where it results from natural fermentation or is used in limited amounts as a solvent for additives.

How additives appear on the label

Additives are declared in the ingredients list. USDA's guidance for the UAE says an additive's name or E-number must be declared together with its functional class, such as preservative or emulsifier. Where an additive could fit more than one class, use the class that best reflects its function in the food. UAE.S 192:2019 then adds two specific label requirements:

Six synthetic colours carry a warning. If a product contains Sunset Yellow (E 110), Quinoline Yellow (E 104), Carmoisine (E 122), Allura Red (E 129), Tartrazine (E 102) or Ponceau 4R (E 124), mark the colour with an asterisk. Print this warning below the ingredients list: "May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children".
Some ingredient sources must be named. If gelatin, lecithins or mono- and diglycerides are used, declare their source.

Potassium bromate (E924), a flour treatment agent, is one additive UAE authorities have acted on specifically. Gulf News reported that bakeries and flour mills were instructed not to use it, under a directive from the General Secretariat of UAE Municipalities. For any other additive, check the current approved references before you assume it is permitted.

Allergen Declaration

GSO 9 requires foods and ingredients known to cause hypersensitivity to be declared on the label. In the GSO 9/2013 text we reviewed, the listed categories were:

Cereals containing gluten, such as wheat, barley, oats, rye and spelt
Crustaceans
Eggs
Fish
Peanuts and soybeans
Nuts (the English translation reads "walnuts")
Milk and milk products, including lactose
Sulphite at 10 ppm or more
Celery
Mustard
Sesame seeds
Molluscs (translated as "clams")
Lupin

It also requires declaration where a biotechnology-derived ingredient could carry over one of these allergens. Secondary sources quote different GCC allergen counts and GSO 9 has been revised since 2013, so check the list against the edition MoIAT applies today.

For compound ingredients, such as a sauce in a ready meal, GSO 9/2013 lets you declare the compound ingredient by name followed by its own ingredients in brackets. We found no percentage threshold there exempting allergens in compound ingredients, and no specific provision on "may contain" statements. Declare allergens wherever they occur, and keep any precautionary statement truthful and not misleading.

Halal and GMO Statements

Halal

Halal requirements sit in their own family of standards, and the numbers are often confused:

UAE.S 2055-1: Halal products, Part 1: General Requirements for Halal Food
UAE.S 2055-2: General Requirements for Halal Certification Bodies. This applies to certifiers, not directly to food products.
UAE.S 993: Animal Slaughtering Requirements According to Islamic Rules

Under Cabinet Decree No. 10 of 2014, establishments must get halal certificates for final products and raw materials from halal certification bodies registered with MoIAT. If a product shows a halal logo on its label, the importer must provide a halal certificate from a certifier approved by UAE authorities. Meat and meat products need a halal slaughter certificate. MoIAT's UAE Halal National Mark is optional.

GMO

GMO labeling is governed by UAE.S GSO 2141:2011 for unprocessed agricultural products and UAE.S GSO 2142:2011 for processed food and feed. UAE.S GSO 2142 is a GMO standard, not a general labeling standard. Labeling is required where genetically modified content exceeds one percent. If a label claims "GMO free", the supplier must provide a certificate from a government authority in the country of origin.

Penalties Under Federal Law No. 10 of 2015

Article 14 of Federal Law No. 10 of 2015 on Food Safety sets the criminal penalties. These apply without prejudice to any more severe penalty under another law. The figures below come from the official English translation, but the Arabic text published in the Official Gazette prevails.

Offence	Penalty
Trading in adulterated, harmful or rotten food at any stage of the food chain	Imprisonment of at least three months and a fine of AED 100,000 to AED 2,000,000, or either penalty
Trading without a licence in food containing pork or its derivatives, alcohol, or other materials that violate Islamic Sharia	Imprisonment of at least one month and a fine of AED 50,000 to AED 500,000, or either penalty
Trading, promoting or publishing a false description of food to deceive the consumer	Fine of AED 10,000 to AED 100,000
Trading in food that violates technical regulations issued under the law	Fine of AED 10,000 to AED 100,000
Other violations of the law	Fine of at least AED 10,000
Repeat offences	Penalty doubled

Under Article 17, authorities can also issue warnings, close an establishment for up to three months, or close it permanently and seek withdrawal of its licence if the violation is not fixed.

How RecipeBuilder Helps With Label Preparation

Many label errors start in the recipe: an ingredient that moved after reformulation, an allergen inside a sub-recipe, or an Arabic panel that no longer matches the English. RecipeBuilder keeps the recipe as the single source for label content. It supports label preparation; it does not replace assessment by UAE authorities.

Turn recipes into UAE-ready label content

RecipeBuilder generates ingredient lists ordered by weight, calculates nutrition from USDA FoodData Central data, builds allergen declarations from your ingredients and sub-recipes, and produces bilingual English/Arabic label content, print-ready packaging artwork, barcodes and QR codes. Book a call to see how it fits your UAE labeling workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a UAE food label have to be in both Arabic and English?

No. Arabic is mandatory and English is optional. Under UAE.S GSO 9, labels must be in Arabic, and if another language such as English is also used, that information must be identical to the Arabic text. Imported products may use a single approved Arabic sticker applied before export, but dates must be printed on the original pack.

What date format is required on food labels in the UAE?

Products with a shelf life of three months or less must show dates as day/month/year. Products with a longer shelf life may use day/month/year or month/year, and with month/year the last day of the month counts as the expiry date. Only one set of production and expiry dates is allowed, printed in indelible ink directly on the original label or pack.

Is UAE.S 192:2019 a food labeling standard?

No. UAE.S 192:2019 is the technical regulation "Additives Permitted for Use in Food Stuffs". It sets which additives may be used and at what levels, with reference to Codex and EU additive lists. It adds a few label rules, such as a warning for six synthetic colours, but general label content is governed by UAE.S GSO 9.

Is Nutri-Mark mandatory across the whole UAE?

No. Nutri-Mark is an Abu Dhabi scheme run by the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council and the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre. It was announced as mandatory in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi from 1 June 2025 for five initial categories (baked goods, oils, dairy products, beverages and children's food), but the mandatory phase was postponed and the scheme remains voluntary as of 2026. Check the current status with the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council before relying on it.