Kuwait’s Public Authority for Food and Nutrition has launched a scheme asking restaurants, cafés and delivery apps to print the calorie count of every dish on their menus. For the first phase, taking part is voluntary; the authority will measure how it goes before widening it.
Who it covers
Restaurants and cafés, local and international chains, ice-cream and juice shops, bakeries and sweet shops, cafeterias, central kitchens selling ready meals, and food-ordering and delivery platforms and digital menus.
What a business has to do
- Register online with the authority.
- Take the training and technical support.
- Put the calories on the menu.
- Pass a technical assessment.
- Get listed on the scheme’s approved list, with periodic follow-up.
Registering or attending the training does not mean automatic approval. The authority reviews how calories were calculated, where the figures came from, portion sizes and sample menus.
What the diner sees
A figure for each dish or meal, based on its actual ingredients, portion, add-ons and substitutes, with a tolerance of 20 per cent either way.
The authority’s guide also asks for allergen information and a line stating that an average adult needs 2,000 calories a day, with a note that needs vary by age, sex and activity.
The standard behind it
The scheme follows Gulf standard GSO 2604:2024 on calorie disclosure on the menus of food businesses serving customers outside the home.
Photo: A plate of kabsa, the kind of dish the menus will now label. Sammy Six, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: Public Authority for Food and Nutrition, via Al-Anba, Al-Jarida and Al-Rai, 17, 21 and 22 September 2026.
Kuwait One, once a week.
The most useful stories we published this week, in your inbox.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
