Available now in 62 countries, following each country’s own food hygiene rules.

Chef Hygiene
Menu

United Arab Emirates: for every food business

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In the United Arab Emirates food control is each emirate's own, so you choose your emirate in the app. In Dubai the app follows Dubai Municipality's Food Code (2013); in Abu Dhabi Regulation No. 6 of 2010, as ADAFSA's Code of Practice No. 29 of 2019 quotes it; in the other emirates the Dubai Food Code's numbers as a guide. In Dubai, Foodwatch stays compulsory: Chef Hygiene is an extra helper, never a replacement.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle PlayGet it fromWindowsOpen theWeb app

14 days free · one price per site · no contract

The Chef Hygiene app on a computer: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checksThe Chef Hygiene app on a phone: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checks

United Arab Emirates: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
Each emirate's food control: Dubai Municipality (Dubai), ADAFSA (Abu Dhabi), the municipality in the other emirates
Public rating
In some places
Languages in the app
English

Your inspection

Each emirate inspects its own food businesses: Dubai Municipality's Food Safety Department in Dubai, ADAFSA (the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority) in Abu Dhabi, and the municipality's food control in Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and the other emirates. Each emirate's Civil Defence checks fire safety.

After an inspection you are told what to put right and by when. In Dubai fines vary by violation and double when repeated (Local Order No. 11 of 2003). In Abu Dhabi ADAFSA's penalties come in 7 graded steps, from a notice and a warning up to closure and cancelling the licence, with an appeal within 60 days (Resolution No. 2 of 2022). We could not confirm the amounts, so we show none.

Hygiene rating

Abu Dhabi: ADAFSA shows outlets' results on its Zadna rating (an app and a QR sticker). Dubai: we could not confirm how the current grades work. The other emirates: we found no public rating. Chef Hygiene shows no rating card for the UAE.

“Law” is a binding rule. “Official guidance” is not law, but inspectors expect it. “Chef Hygiene default” is a value the app checks against where no rule gives a number.

Temperatures

  • LawDubai: chilled food at 5°C or below, frozen food at −18°C (the Dubai Food Code 3.6.2). Ras Al Khaimah's food code sets the same.
  • LawDubai: cooking to a core of at least 75°C, checked with a probe and recorded; hot holding at 60°C or hotter; reheating over 75°C, once only (the Dubai Food Code 3.2.8, 3.2.10 and 3.2.13).
  • LawDubai: cooling from 60°C to 20°C within 2 hours, then to 5°C within 4 more hours, and used within 72 hours (the Dubai Food Code 3.2.11).
  • LawAbu Dhabi: chilled food below 5°C, frozen food at −18°C or colder, hot food above 63°C (the danger zone is 5°C to 63°C); fridge thermometers accurate to ±1°C (Regulation No. 6 of 2010, Art. 30, 37 and 40, quoted in ADAFSA's Code of Practice No. 29 of 2019).
  • Chef Hygiene defaultSharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah: Chef Hygiene uses the Dubai Food Code's numbers as a guide. Check your emirate's own rules.

Staff, training and health

  • LawDubai: a certified Person in Charge on every shift where high-risk food is prepared, the certificate valid 5 years, and the Person in Charge's name shown where customers can see it (the Dubai Food Code 3.1).
  • LawEvery food handler holds a valid occupational health card after the government medical fitness tests (the Dubai Food Code 5.1; Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah ask for it too). In Dubai, sick staff come back 48 hours after the symptoms and the medicine stop (the Dubai Food Code 5.2).
  • LawDubai: every food handler is trained before starting work, with a refresher after 1 year. Abu Dhabi: EFST food safety training for every food handler (ADAFSA's Code of Practice No. 29 of 2019).

Allergens

  • LawDubai: 9 allergen groups (crustaceans, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts, sesame, fish, egg, milk and cereals with gluten) on the label or the menu, or given when a customer asks (the Dubai Food Code 3.4.3). We advise the same in every emirate.

Fire safety checks

  • LawEach emirate's Civil Defence inspects fire safety under the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultExtinguishers, fire alarm, hood fire suppression and electrics: Chef Hygiene suggests dates you can change. We did not confirm the UAE's intervals or the code's kitchen rules.
  • Official guidanceEmergency numbers, as the UAE government portal (u.ae) lists them: 999 police, 998 ambulance, 997 fire.

Records

  • LawDubai: a documented food safety programme based on HACCP, approved by Dubai Municipality, kept on site and reviewed at least every year, with audit reports kept 4 years (the Dubai Food Code 3.1.3).
  • LawDubai: Foodwatch is compulsory. Every food business registers on it and keeps its food safety records there (Dubai Municipality's circular, June 2017, with a yearly fee of AED 1,500). Chef Hygiene is an extra helper and never replaces Foodwatch.
  • LawAbu Dhabi: a food safety management system based on HACCP for every food business, and food temperature and thermometer calibration records kept 3 years (Regulation No. 6 of 2010, Art. 100 and 41).
  • Official guidanceSharjah: the Sharjah Food Safety Programme audits good hygiene practice (GHP) records, and asks caterers for a HACCP certificate. In the other emirates a HACCP-based plan is good practice.

Official sources

Checked

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check with your local authority.

United Arab Emirates: the Chef Hygiene app

The app loads these rules for your kitchen, checks your records against them and keeps proof for the inspector.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle PlayGet it fromWindowsOpen theWeb app

Other countries

Countries