All eateries in Dubai are under the process of being digitally profiled to ensure better food safety and to help diners make more informed eating decisions.

The launch of this digital platform will see a new mobile application made available to the general Emirati public. The public will then be able to view important nutritional information through this application.

This high-tech system is termed ‘Food Watch’ and will fully digitalise information about food safety and the nutrional values of all food served in approximately 20,000 eateries before Dubai plays host to Expo 2020, officials said.

This new revolutionary predictive digital platform will aim to connect every person involved in the food industry. It will reduce paperwork drastically and help people better choose their dietary preferences.

The director general of Dubai Municipality, Hussain Nasser Lootah launched this digital platform at the 11^th Dubai International Food Safety Conference.

While speaking to Gulf News, he said that consumers will now be able to customize their food selection according to their preferences with the use of this application.

 “They can see the location of the restaurants, they can check what types of food items are available and their ingredients. They can choose organic food or healthy food or any other type of food they prefer.”

The Head of Applied Nutrition at the Food Safety Department, Noura Al Shamsi revealed that all food establishments within Dubai will soon be registered into the system.

 “This system will help us trace the safety of food throughout the food chain, from farm to fork. It will have customised interfaces [such as a website and mobile apps] for the department, food companies and consumers. We are now building the database and infrastructure for implementing this in different phases.”

Dubai imports close to $200 billion of food from 200 nations around the world. As Shamsi elaborated saying that the municipality is corresponding with various governments and food agencies to better implement the digital system. A 100 person team has already been assigned to working on creating the database and infrastructure.