The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) launched the Saudi Food Composition Tables on June 25, 2026 — a national nutrient reference covering 130 traditional Saudi dishes.
The tables document 49 macro- and micronutrients per dish, built on a substantial laboratory programme: more than 19,000 analyses in total, with each dish prepared three times and sampled at least twelve times to capture realistic variation in how traditional food is actually cooked.
The SFDA positions the tables as a reference for professionals, policymakers, and consumers alike, and the full digital version is available on the authority's website.
The significance for food service is practical. Traditional dishes have long been the hardest part of menu declarations — recipes vary, published nutrient data has been scarce, and operators have often had to rely on rough estimates or costly private analysis. An official, laboratory-backed reference changes that baseline.
For operators calculating calorie and nutrient declarations for traditional dishes under Saudi menu-labelling requirements, the tables offer an authoritative starting point — one more reason to keep dish composition records organized and current.