New star rating system in Dubai will honour restaurants for sustainable practices

Dubai Star will evaluate eateries annually on efforts to promote safe, healthy and high-quality food

Restaurants in Dubai will be reviewed and honoured annually for their efforts towards implementing sustainable food safety practices. Photo: Gates Hospitality

Restaurants in Dubai could soon be recognised with a new kind of award in the form of a Dubai Star.

Dubai Municipality launched the star-rated system this week saying it will assess and award restaurants based on how well they apply methods that promote the use of safe, healthy and high-quality food.

Restaurants in the emirate will be reviewed and honoured annually for their efforts towards implementing sustainable food safety practices.

The initiative was launched on Thursday on the sidelines of the 15th Dubai International Food Safety Conference at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Restaurants will also be evaluated on their social responsibility and their efforts towards helping the UAE boosts its food security goals.

“Dubai Star is the rating that guarantees international recognition,” a spokesman for Dubai Municipality said in a promotional video for Dubai Star.

“[It] confirms a commitment to sustainable food systems that is at the heart of Dubai’s vision for the future."

“Compete with restaurants from around the world for the Dubai Star,” was the message of encouragement.

Noted as the first global rating of its kind, Dubai Star will encourage chefs and restaurateurs to think deep about the impact their food will have not just on the customer, but on global food security as a whole.

Speaking at the conference, Dawoud Al Hajri, director general of Dubai Municipality, said there is a critical need to ensure a balance between safety, production and consumption.

He also mentioned that sustainable food systems are at the heart of Dubai’s future vision for food safety.

More information about how exactly restaurants will be rated will be announced in the coming months.

During the Cop26 summit in the UK last week, Mariam Al Mheiri, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said sustainable food systems are also a solution provider for the “whole climate mitigation efforts”.

“Innovation and research and development is really key in driving how you can grow foods,” she said.

“The [UAE] leadership recognised from an early stage that in order for us to be more resilient, we really need to invest more money and effort into building more sustainable food systems.

“So in 2018, we launched the National Food Security Strategy, we set up the governance model in the UAE and this is all towards a national transition,” she said.