Key Takeaways from the SGS Food Forum Dubai 2025: Leading the Way for Food Safety

As a global trade hub, Dubai faces heightened risks of food fraud within its supply chain. Shagufta M. Zubair from Dubai Municipality shared insights on the UAE’s current and future legal frameworks for combating food fraud, emphasizing regulatory advancements and digital monitoring tools like Food Watch.

Key Takeaways

• Dubai’s food fraud regulations are evolving to address global challenges and strengthen supply chain integrity.
• The Food Watch platform provides real-time monitoring, manages supplier certifications, and integrates HACCP protocols for fraud prevention.
• The Dubai Food Safety Testing Initiative enhances detection and response to fraudulent practices.
• Businesses are now required to incorporate food fraud risk assessments into their HACCP and food safety plans.

Food fraud is particularly prevalent in meat, poultry, and seafood, where mislabeling, substitution, and dilution are common deceptive practices. Parvin Banu shared some practices followed by Global Food as a leading food manufacturer, outlined the seven types of food fraud, highlighting real-world case studies and risk assessments.

Key Takeaways:

• Common fraud tactics in the poultry and seafood industry include species substitution, ingredient dilution, and false labelling.
• Challenges faced by businesses include complex global supply chains, limited resources for SMEs, and the high cost of fraud detection methods like DNA and isotope testing.
• Risk assessments based preventive methods such as PAS 96, CARVER+Shock and vulnerability assessments improve business reputation, consumer trust, and sustainability.
• Creating consumer awareness is key in combating food fraud.
• Collective action from regulators, industry players, and consumers is essential to combating food fraud effectively. 

Identifying emerging food fraud risks before they escalate is critical for protecting food integrity. Sahil Majeed from SGS introduced Horizon Scanning, an innovative predictive risk assessment tool that enables businesses to stay ahead of fraud threats.

Key Takeaways:

• Horizon Scanning systematically identifies early warning signs and weak indicators of food fraud in global supply chains.
• Best practices include utilizing open data sources and predictive risk governance models to strengthen fraud detection.
• Real-world examples showcase how Horizon Scanning has successfully mitigated risks in the agri-food industry.
• SGS Digicomply, an AI-powered regulatory compliance platform, enables real-time monitoring, predictive risk management, and streamlined market entry.

Sreeganga Kadiyan from SGS highlighted the newly added Food Loss and Waste (FLW) requirements in FSSC 22000 V6.0 and their role in achieving global sustainability goals. She emphasized the need for businesses to integrate FLW reduction into their food safety management systems.

Key Takeaways:

• Food loss and waste are global challenges, with 2 billion tons of food wasted annually, contributing to 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• The FSSC 22000 V6.0 framework aligns with SDG 12.3, aiming for a 50% reduction of food loss and waste by 2030.
• Businesses must follow three key steps:
  - Target: Identify, measure, and set reduction goals.
  - Measure: Monitor progress, conduct root cause analysis if targets are not met.
  - Improve: Adjust reduction strategies based on results.
• Technology and AI can play a crucial role in predicting waste trends and optimizing supply chains.

Prapthi Rai from Barakat Group shared Barakat’s commitment to a waste-free future, detailing their initiatives across the entire value chain, from sourcing raw materials to final product distribution.

Key Takeaways:

• Barakat enforces supplier performance assessments to source from high-performing suppliers and minimize waste.
• Employee training on product handling and waste management is a core strategy to ensure efficient operations.
• Kaizen Management is used to encourage continuous improvement in food loss prevention.
• Advanced cooling systems in logistics ensure products remain in optimal conditions until they reach customers.

Bala Chander from Grand Hyatt Dubai shared insights into Hyatt’s 2030 sustainability goals and its innovative approach to reducing food waste in the hospitality sector.

Key Takeaways:

• Major food waste sources in hotels:
  - Production waste
  - Buffet waste
  - Plate waste

• Hyatt’s key initiatives include:
  - Food waste tracking systems in key kitchens for real-time monitoring.
  - Menu optimization, using "root-to-stem" cooking techniques.
  - Employee and guest engagement in waste reduction efforts.
  - Composting and recycling programs to divert organic waste from landfills.

• Hyatt’s Food Waste Bio-Digester introduced in August 2024 successfully diverted 76,911 kg of food waste from landfills. 

Dr. Simon Miller from Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, provided an overview of the Nutri-Mark Labeling System, highlighting its purpose, benefits, core principles, certification process, and evaluation benchmarks.

Key Takeaways:

• Nutri-Mark is a Front-Of-Pack Nutritional Labelling system that uses a color-coded scale from A (dark green, best nutritional quality) to E (dark orange, weakest nutritional quality) for easy understanding.
• Application for implementation of the Nutri-Mark Labelling System in Abu Dhabi should be available by March 2025.
• The high obesity rates in the UAE (14% above OECD average) and increasing childhood obesity concerns prompted Abu Dhabi authorities to take action.
• The certification process for Nutri-Mark involves food manufacturers submitting nutritional data, which is then assessed to assign the appropriate label score.
• Nutri-Mark is Currently voluntary, with a roadmap toward mandatory implementation for high-impact food categories such as bread, dairy, beverages, and processed foods.
• Future plans include increasing adoption rates and ensuring widespread consumer accessibility.

The forum concluded with an engaging panel discussion on Food Safety Culture, moderated by Sahil Majeed from SGS. The session featured insights from FSSC, Agthia Group and SGS.

The discussion covered food safety culture requirements, challenges, best practices, and industry-specific strategies for fostering a commitment to food safety at all organizational levels with real life examples from the experts.

Key Takeaways:

1. Food Safety Culture is a Long-Term Commitment, not a One-Time Initiative
   - Culture cannot be implemented overnight; it requires a long-term strategy with both short- and long-term planning.
   - The goal is to shift from compliance to commitment, ensuring that food safety becomes an integrated part of daily operations rather than a regulatory obligation.
   
   
2. People Are at the Core of Food Safety Culture
   - Food safety is everyone’s responsibility, but the challenge is making employees accountable for it.
   - Organizations should engage and communicate effectively, ensuring that employees feel recognized and empowered.
   - Selecting food safety champions from different language groups can bridge communication gaps in diverse workplaces.
   
   
3. Transparency and Leadership Commitment Drive Real Change
   - Transparency is essential across all stakeholders, including manufacturers, retailers, and consumers.
   - Organizations should openly address non-conformities rather than focusing on blame when issues arise.
   - Senior management must prioritize food safety culture with the same level of importance as financial performance.
   
   
4. Overcoming Regional Challenges: Language Barriers & Recognition
   - In the Middle East, diversity presents a unique challenge, requiring visual aids, multilingual training materials, and clear communication strategies.
   - Food safety and quality departments often lack recognition—their efforts are overlooked until something goes wrong.
   - Creating a psychologically safe environment ensures that employees feel comfortable reporting concerns without fear of repercussions.
   
   
5. A Roadmap to Implementing Food Safety Culture
   - Establishing a food safety culture requires a map with different steps, on top of these steps comes the leadership commitment, resources, training, and continuous improvement.
   - By following this step roadmap, organizations can build a robust food safety culture that enhances compliance, reduces risks, and ensures consumer safety.

This panel discussion reinforced the importance of embedding food safety culture into an organization’s DNA, emphasizing leadership engagement, employee accountability, and continuous improvement as key drivers of sustainable food safety practices.