Dubai Municipality has unveiled its “My School Food” digital platform, targeting more than 400,000 students across over 500 schools. The AI-driven system — featuring a chatbot named Ghalia — aims to boost food safety, enforce stricter nutrition rules, and educate students, parents, and suppliers about healthier eating habits.
Dubai Municipality has unveiled a major new initiative aimed at improving nutrition, food safety, and menu quality across educational institutions in the emirate. The “My School Food” digital platform targets more than 400,000 students, spanning over 500 schools, nurseries, and universities, and involves over 50 food suppliers in Dubai’s school food ecosystem.
A centerpiece of this initiative is Ghalia, an AI-powered assistant built into the platform. Ghalia provides students, suppliers, and other stakeholders with real-time, accurate answers on food safety, balanced nutrition, and food-waste reduction — all based on municipality-approved data and standards.
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Alongside the platform, Dubai Municipality is rolling out more rigorous nutritional regulations. Meals will now be planned according to age-specific portion sizes and calorie counts, helping to ensure that students receive appropriately balanced meals.
The guidelines push for more nutrient-dense foods — increasing fibre intake, cutting down added sugar, and encouraging students to drink more water. The measure also regulates the consumption of caffeinated drinks like tea and coffee for better overall wellbeing.
Food safety is another priority. The platform demands high standards of hygiene, and includes protocols for managing allergies. Self-auditing tools are part of the system so that both schools and caterers can continuously monitor and report compliance.
To strengthen the food supply chain and enforcement of these new norms, Dubai Municipality has signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with key partners:
The “My School Food” platform doesn’t just regulate — it educates. Through a built-in e-learning module, students can take gamified lessons about food safety, nutrition, and sustainable eating. The module also offers educational content for parents and school staff.
An important element in each school is the role of a Nutrition-in-Charge (NIC) — a person responsible for overseeing the application of nutrition policies in the school canteen, ensuring compliance with the new guidelines.
There is also a self-audit mechanism ("NutriCheck") through which caterers and schools are required to report monthly. This empowers mess halls to regularly check their performance and stay aligned with nutrition and food-safety standards.
To ensure accountability, the Municipality will use real-time monitoring via its DM Checked platform. Inspectors will be able to check school menus and audit results to confirm whether food suppliers are sticking to the new nutrition and hygiene protocols.
Food items in school canteens will be categorized under the “Smart Food Choices System” into four groups:
This color-coded system helps students make better food choices, and schools align their menu planning accordingly.
By raising the bar for school meals, Dubai aims to tackle major long-term health issues such as childhood obesity and lifestyle-related diseases.
The initiative also supports sustainability: through smarter portion control, lower food waste, and more plant-based, fibre-rich foods, schools are encouraged to build eco-friendly canteen practices.
For students, “My School Food” can mean access to healthier, safer meals every day at school. Gamified learning helps them internalize good food habits, while the AI assistant makes nutrition information easy to digest.
Parents benefit from transparency: the platform allows them to see what’s happening in their children’s schools and understand the nutritional quality of meals.
Suppliers, meanwhile, have access to training, compliance dashboards, and automated audit tools — this simplifies meeting the new, tougher standards.
The “My School Food” initiative represents a forward-thinking, technology-driven approach to public health in schools. By combining AI, real-time monitoring, education, and strict food standards, Dubai is signaling that student nutrition is a priority.
This project builds on previous nutrition initiatives by the Municipality and aligns with global trends where governments are increasingly integrating digital tools to address dietary health in young populations.
If successful, this system could serve as a model for other regions seeking to raise food safety and nutrition standards in educational institutions — using data, AI, and accountability to not only regulate but genuinely improve health outcomes for students.
