Since 2019 the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) has required restaurants and cafés in the Kingdom to show the calories of every item on their menus. Its latest phase, which reports place in 2025, adds more information to help guests choose consciously.
What must appear on the menu?
- Calories for every dish and drink, clearly shown.
- A salt warning: an icon marking items high in sodium.
- Caffeine: the caffeine content of drinks that contain it.
- Physical activity: an estimate of the activity needed to burn the meal’s calories.
The rules cover printed and digital menus, and menus shown in delivery apps.
Where to start
- Fix a standard recipe for every item, in grams — accurate numbers start with a stable recipe.
- Calculate each recipe’s nutrition values and recheck them whenever ingredients or portion sizes change.
- Show the same information on every channel: in-store menus, your digital menu and delivery apps.
Calorie labels are not just a compliance task — many guests look for them before ordering.
A digital menu lets you update this information instantly without reprinting. Before finalising, check the SFDA’s official guidance for the latest details and requirements.