Abu Dhabi issues pre-market tasting rules for novel foods
The guidelines cover safe tasting before full UAE market authorisation; a planned fermentation facility remains in engineering.
- Publish date: 2026-10-11
- Category: Standards & Policy
- Original source: Abu Dhabi Media Office
- Reading time: 1 min read
At PALT 2026, Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, ADAFSA and ADIO’s AGWA cluster unveiled guidance for safe tasting and sensory evaluation of novel foods before full UAE market authorisation. It covers alternative proteins, cultivated foods and precision- and biomass-fermentation products; it does not approve products for sale. AGWA discussions addressed feedstock, energy, infrastructure, funding from pilots to industrial production, halal frameworks and consumer trust. Abu Dhabi Media Office said Al Ghurair Foods was expected to join the Starfish consortium as a feedstock partner for a planned protein-fermentation facility still in engineering. ADIO projected AED90 billion in incremental GDP, more than 60,000 jobs and AED128 billion in investment by 2045; these are projections, not achieved outcomes.