A menu may look simple to a guest. For a hotel, however, every dish represents a complex set of ingredients, quantities, preparation methods, portion sizes and nutritional variables. This becomes particularly important as Abu Dhabi's hospitality sector prepares for mandatory healthy menu requirements.
Understanding the SEHHI Requirement
Under DCT Abu Dhabi Circular No. 7/2026, hotel restaurants and applicable food and beverage outlets operating under a valid DCT Abu Dhabi Tourism Licence are required to provide minimum healthy options on their menus, subject to specified exclusions. For adult menus, at least one healthy option must be offered under each menu category, while at least 50% of items on children's menus must be healthy options in line with approved SEHHI criteria. Full compliance and enforcement begins on 1 October 2026, following the three-month implementation period that began on 1 July 2026.
The important question for hotels is therefore not simply: "Which dishes should we call healthy?" It is: "Do we have the recipe data needed to demonstrate that these dishes actually meet the applicable criteria?"
What Is SEHHI?
SEHHI is a healthy food programme developed by the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC) to encourage healthier food choices across Abu Dhabi.
The SEHHI Healthy Menus programme identifies healthier menu options based on nutritional characteristics. ADPHC describes SEHHI-labelled foods as having lower levels of fat, sugar and salt and higher fibre compared with other foods of the same type.
The classification process considers nutritional information including calories, total fat, saturated and trans fats, sugar, salt and fibre. This means that identifying a suitable dish requires more than looking at its name.
A dish described as "Grilled Chicken with Vegetables" may sound healthy. But its actual nutritional profile depends on:
- How much chicken is used
- The portion size
- Whether the chicken is marinated
- The amount and type of cooking oil
- The sauce or dressing
- Added butter
- Seasonings and stocks
- The quantity of vegetables
- Whether ingredients are weighed before or after cooking
- The final recipe yield
The recipe is what determines the numbers.
Recipe Data Is the Foundation
Nutrition analysis is only as reliable as the recipe information used to perform it.
Consider a simple hotel recipe: Grilled Chicken Breast. A kitchen may record:
As Recorded in the Kitchen
- Chicken breast180 g
- Olive oil1 spoon
- Marinadeas required
- Saltto taste
- Herbsas required
For kitchen operations, this may be perfectly understandable. For nutritional analysis, it is not sufficiently precise.
What does "1 spoon" mean? 5 ml? 10 ml? 15 ml? How much marinade is actually absorbed? How much salt is used? Is the chicken weight measured raw or cooked? What is the final serving weight?
Small differences can materially affect the nutritional calculation. This is why recipe standardisation is the first step toward meaningful nutritional analysis.
10 Things Every Hotel Should Know About Recipe Data
01
Ingredient Quantities Matter
Every ingredient contributes to the nutritional profile of a dish. This includes ingredients that are often overlooked. Hotels should consider not only the primary ingredients but also:
- Cooking oils
- Butter and ghee
- Sauces
- Dressings
- Marinades
- Stocks
- Seasoning mixes
- Cheese
- Sweeteners
- Garnishes
- Condiments
- Processed ingredients
A recipe containing 10 g of oil is nutritionally different from one containing 25 g. Likewise, changing a sauce, dressing or cheese quantity can significantly alter calories, fat, sugar or sodium. If the ingredient quantity is inaccurate, the nutritional result will also be inaccurate.
02
Portion Size Changes the Nutritional Picture
Hotels frequently prepare recipes in large batches. A kitchen may produce 5 kg of a finished recipe, but the guest receives 250 g per serving. The nutritional analysis must therefore account for the relationship between recipe quantity, final yield, serving size and nutritional value per serving. This is particularly important when creating healthy menu options — a recipe may appear to meet a nutritional target when analysed at one serving size but fail when the actual guest portion is larger. Standardised portion sizes therefore become an essential part of the data.
03
Raw Weight and Cooked Weight Are Not the Same
Cooking changes food weight. Water can be lost or absorbed, and ingredients can reduce, expand or change concentration — rice, pasta, meat and vegetables can all have substantially different weights before and after cooking. If a hotel analyses a recipe using raw weights but serves a cooked portion, or vice versa, the resulting nutrition calculation may not accurately represent what reaches the guest. This is particularly important when standardising recipes across multiple outlets or properties.
For reliable analysis, the methodology needs to clearly define: ingredient state, cooking method, recipe yield, and final serving weight.
04
"Small" Ingredients Can Have a Big Impact
One of the biggest challenges in hotel recipe analysis is the assumption that small quantities do not matter. They do — a few grams of butter, oil, cheese, sugar, syrup, cream, sauce or salt can change the nutritional composition of a dish. This is especially relevant when a recipe is being assessed against defined nutritional criteria. A dish that is close to a threshold may move from compliant to non-compliant because of an ingredient that was never properly documented. Recipe precision becomes especially important when the margin is small.
05
Processed Ingredients Need Attention
Many hotel recipes contain commercially manufactured ingredients — stock cubes, ready-made sauces, mayonnaise, dressings, cheese, bread products, spice blends, marinades, canned ingredients and plant-based alternatives. These products can vary considerably in their nutritional composition. Where possible, hotels should maintain accurate product information, including nutritional information from the relevant supplier or product specification. Replacing one branded sauce with another can change the recipe's nutritional profile — recipe compliance cannot always be treated as a one-time exercise.
06
Recipe Changes Can Change Compliance
This is one of the most important operational considerations. A hotel may have a dish assessed as a healthy option. Later, the chef changes the cooking oil, the sauce, the garnish, the portion size, the cheese, the recipe formulation, or the supplier. The dish may still have the same name — but nutritionally, it may no longer be the same recipe. DCT's Circular No. 7/2026 specifically notes that menus are expected to change over time and that establishments must continue to meet the required minimum number of compliant options, and states that changes to previously approved healthy menu items must be re-submitted for validation to ensure continued compliance. This makes recipe version control an important part of ongoing compliance.
07
Children's Menus Require Even More Attention
The circular introduces a specific requirement for children's menus: at least 50% of all items offered must be healthy options in line with the approved SEHHI criteria. Where applicable, healthy adult menu items can also be adapted into smaller, child-appropriate portions. This means hotels need to understand not only which adult recipes qualify, but also which dishes can be adapted for children, appropriate portion sizes, nutritional differences between adult and children's portions, how reformulation affects the final nutritional profile, and whether the adapted dish continues to meet the applicable criteria. A standardised recipe database can make this process significantly easier to manage.
08
Recipe Data Helps Hotels Identify the Right Dishes
Hotels do not necessarily need to create an entirely new menu to prepare for healthy menu requirements. A better starting point may be to analyse the recipes they already have. A structured nutrition analysis can help identify already-suitable recipes that may already meet the applicable criteria, near-compliant recipes that could qualify with relatively small modifications, recipes requiring reformulation where significant changes may be needed, and recipes unsuitable for the intended category. This allows culinary teams to focus their efforts where they are most likely to have an impact.
09
From Recipe Analysis to Menu Strategy
SEHHI preparation should not be treated as an isolated nutrition exercise. It should connect the kitchen, nutrition, menu engineering and compliance teams. A useful workflow can look like this:
Recipe Collection
↓
Recipe Standardisation
↓
Ingredient & Product Verification
↓
Nutrition Analysis
↓
SEHHI Criteria Assessment
↓
Recipe Reformulation, Where Required
↓
Menu Category Mapping
↓
Documentation & Submission Support
↓
Ongoing Recipe Change Management
This creates a repeatable process instead of a last-minute compliance exercise.
10
Documentation Matters
DCT's Circular No. 7/2026 states that establishments may be required to submit menus for verification and, where applicable, provide recipes and nutritional information for assessment by ADPHC. That makes recipe documentation more than an internal kitchen tool. Hotels should consider maintaining structured information for each relevant recipe, including:
- Recipe name
- Menu category
- Ingredient list
- Ingredient quantities
- Ingredient specifications
- Cooking method
- Recipe yield
- Serving size
- Nutritional values
- Relevant product documentation
- Recipe version
- Date of analysis
- Changes made after analysis
A structured digital record makes it easier to review, update and reproduce the analysis when required.
The Real Challenge: Data Quality
SEHHI compliance is ultimately about healthy menu options. But behind those options is a data problem.
If the recipe data is incomplete, the nutritional analysis can be unreliable. If the nutritional analysis is unreliable, identifying compliant dishes becomes more difficult. And if recipes change without updating the analysis, previously assessed dishes may no longer represent the actual food being served.
This is why recipe data quality should be treated as part of the compliance process — not as an administrative afterthought.
How TRUIX Technologies LLP Can Help
TRUIX Technologies LLP helps hospitality businesses turn recipe information into structured, actionable food data. For hotels preparing for SEHHI requirements, our approach can support the journey from recipe documentation to nutritional assessment and menu readiness. Our capabilities can include:
