Minister of Development and Sustainability: "Calories" Initiative Enhances Nutritional Transparency and Community Health
By Sara Saffar
KUWAIT CITY, Sept. 21 (KUNA) -- State Minister for Development and Sustainability Affairs, Dr. Reem Al-Faleh, confirmed on Monday that the "Calories" initiative launched by the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition represents a national step to enhance food transparency and empower consumers to make more informed dietary choices, thereby supporting community health and the sustainability of the country's food system.
Speaking to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on the occasion of the launch of the initiative, titled "With Calories, Your Menu Is Clearer and Trust Is Greater," Dr. Al-Faleh stated that developing a sustainable food system goes beyond ensuring food availability; it also encompasses improving consumption patterns, strengthening prevention, and mitigating the health, social, and economic impacts associated with diseases resulting from unhealthy dietary habits.
She added that the growing trend of eating out and using food ordering and delivery applications makes providing clear nutritional information to consumers at the point of decision-making increasingly important. She noted that the initiative promotes the concept of the conscious consumer, who is able to make decisions based on clear and reliable information.
Dr. Al-Faleh explained that the initiative is based on the Gulf Standard GSO 2604:2024 regarding the disclosure of calories in the menus of food establishments that serve food to consumers off-premises, reflecting Kuwait's commitment to implementing relevant Gulf practices and standards concerning public health and nutrition.
She mentioned that the initiative currently relies on the voluntary participation of food establishments and is built on partnership, technical support, training, monitoring, and evaluation within a unified scientific framework.
Dr. Al-Faleh clarified that public trust in the food system is built on transparency, accuracy, and scientific evidence, emphasizing the importance of ensuring that the nutritional information provided to consumers is clear, reliable, and verifiable.
She stated that the role of the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition extends beyond regulation and legal enforcement to include prevention, awareness-raising, technical support, and building partnerships with the food sector, aiming to achieve a balance between protecting consumer health and supporting the sector's development and sustainability.
Dr. Al-Faleh affirmed that the initiative reflects Kuwait's direction toward developing practical and modern tools in the fields of public health and nutrition, and building a measurable and developable national model that enhances public trust in the food system and reinforces the food sector's responsibility toward consumer health and quality of life.
For her part, Dr. Shaima Al-Asfour, Acting Director General of the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition, stated that the "With Calories, Your Menu Is Clearer and Trust Is Greater" initiative will be applied on a voluntary basis in its first phase. The experience will be evaluated based on clear, measurable performance indicators, and the results will be used to develop and expand the initiative in the future.
Al-Asfour explained that the journey of a participating establishment begins with online registration, followed by training and technical support, then the actual implementation of calorie display, and a technical evaluation to verify compliance with requirements. Compliant establishments are then included in the list dedicated to the initiative, with continuous monitoring and periodic evaluation.
She noted that registering an establishment in the initiative or attending training does not imply automatic approval, nor does it constitute comprehensive validation of all submitted data. The displayed information is subject to review and technical evaluation, including the methodology for calculating calories, sources of information, portion sizes, and menu formats.
Al-Asfair added that the guideline prepared by the Authority outlines the scientific methods available for calculating calories and the mechanisms for displaying them for each dish or meal, based on actual ingredients, portion size, and any additives or substitutes used. It adopts an acceptable margin of variation not exceeding ±20 percent of the calculated value, in accordance with the initiative's technical framework.
She pointed out that the guideline also includes the disclosure of food allergens and the display of the advisory statement regarding the average daily requirement for adults, which is 2,000 calories, while emphasizing that daily requirements vary according to age, gender, activity level, and individual condition.
Al-Asfair clarified that the scope of the initiative voluntarily includes restaurants, cafes, local and international restaurant chains, ice cream and juice shops, bakeries, confectioneries, cafeterias, and central kitchens that provide ready-made meals, as well as food ordering and delivery platforms and applications, and digital menus.
She affirmed that the evaluation of the initiative's success will not be limited to the number of registered establishments but will also include the transition rate from registration to actual implementation, the pass rate of technical evaluations, the level of accuracy and clarity of information display, and the rate of addressing non-compliance cases, in addition to measuring consumer awareness and the extent to which they benefit from the provided information.
She stressed that the Authority will treat the first phase as a stage for implementation, evaluation, and learning, using its results to develop the initiative and determine future expansion pathways based on scientific and objective grounds.
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