140Control points
12Sections
TrackedEvery gap closed with an owner
Scope
What the assessment covers
Every section is scored independently, so you see exactly where the weakness sits rather than a single number.
01 · 12 questions
Governance & Legal Compliance
Food business registration and renewal, obligations under Federal Law No. 10 of 2015, MOCCAE approval for imported products, ZAD system registration, traceability testing, and label accuracy including Arabic and English.
02 · 10 questions
Licensing & Approvals
Trade and food licences, approvals for each outlet and activity, and whether they are current, complete and matched to what the property actually does.
03 · 14 questions
Facility Design & Hygiene
Layout, flow, surfaces, equipment and structural hygiene across kitchens, stores and service areas.
04 · 20 questions
Food Handling & Process Control
Receiving, storage, preparation, cooking, cooling, holding and service — the temperature and process controls that prevent contamination.
05 · 13 questions
HACCP System
Whether a documented HACCP plan exists, is based on real hazard analysis, and is monitored, verified and reviewed rather than filed away.
06 · 9 questions
Training & Competency
Food handler training, certification currency, and whether competence is verified rather than assumed.
07 · 23 questions
Cleaning, Sanitation & Pest Control
The largest section. Cleaning schedules, chemical control, verification, and pest prevention and monitoring.
08 · 8 questions
Traceability & Recall
One step forward, one step back traceability, recall procedures, and whether they have been tested.
09 · 6 questions
Allergen Management
Allergen identification, segregation, labelling and communication to guests.
10 · 11 questions
Hotel-Specific Operations
Banquets, room service, buffets, pool and beach service — the operations generic food safety audits routinely miss.
11 · 5 questions
Water Safety & Ice
Potable water, ice production and handling, and legionella-relevant controls.
12 · 9 questions
Management Oversight
Whether leadership reviews food safety performance, acts on findings, and closes them out.
What is covers
What it is measured against
Federal Law No. 10 of 2015UAE Food CodeMOCCAE approvalZAD system registrationHACCPApplicable Municipality requirements
The stakes
Enforcement is unannounced, frequent and data driven
Over 90% of Dubai’s food supply is imported, and the emirate is among the world’s largest food-trading hubs. Add a hospitality sector serving thousands of covers a day, and food safety becomes a matter of public health, brand reputation and legal survival.
The rulebook
What applies to hotels and F&B establishments
The standards aren’t secret. Proving you meet them by maintaining robust controls and evidence, every single day is the hard part.
Federal
Federal Law No. 10 of 2015
Governs the whole chain from import to consumer, reinforced by Cabinet Decision No. 21 of 2020 and Ministerial Decree No. 239 of 2018, which requires ZAD registration before market entry.
Dubai · DM
The Dubai Food Code
Mandates a HACCP-based management system, a certified Person in Charge, and registration and self-inspection on the municipality’s digital platform.
Abu Dhabi · ADAFSA
Law No. 2 of 2008 and Code of Practice No. 29 of 2019
Detailed hygiene rules set by Law No. 2 of 2008 and Regulation No. 6 of 2010, backed by mandatory Essential Food Safety Training for all food handlers.
The common thread — HACCP
Every regime rests on the same preventive method: the seven HACCP principles of the Codex Alimentarius, formalised for larger operators as ISO 22000. Identify hazards, control critical points, document the evidence.
What changed
The regulators went digital and continuous
The rulebook you prepared for last year isn’t the one they’re using. Requirements have sharpened and enforcement has stepped up.
Dubai Food Code
2026 updates
Sharpened requirements on food-safety management, allergen disclosure and traceability, with stepped-up enforcement of HACCP flow separation — a commonly failed criterion.
Dubai Municipality
DMChecked replaces FoodWatch
Launched late 2025, the cloud platform lets managers record and verify inspections from mobile devices, sharing data with inspectors in real time.
Abu Dhabi
ADAFSA goes AI powered
An AI-driven smart inspection system, a public Zadna rating covering 9,000+ establishments, and remote inspections by video call through an operator’s self-control app.
The gap
Regulators expect you to already know your status
Most operators still run internal compliance on spreadsheets, photos and binders pulled together the week before an audit. For a single café that is risky. For a hotel group running ten, twenty, fifty outlets, it is a blind spot, leadership has no live, comparable view of which sites are audit ready and which are one inspection from a downgrade. Problems surface at the inspection, exactly when they are most expensive to fix.
Sample questions
The level it actually works at
A selection of real control points from the assessment, so you can judge the depth before you run it.
Governance & Legal Compliance
Is the food business registered with the competent authority, and is the registration current?
Governance & Legal Compliance
Are imported food products covered by the required MOCCAE approval?
Traceability & Recall
Can the property trace any product one step forward and one step back, and has this been tested?
Food Handling & Process Control
Do all cold rooms and freezers maintain required temperatures (≤5°C chilled; ≤−18°C frozen) with continuous or frequent monitoring logs?
Governance & Legal Compliance
Are food labels accurate and presented in both Arabic and English as required?
Allergen Management
Are the fourteen declarable allergens identified, segregated and communicated to guests?
Scoring
Our scoring is risk focussed
Every question is scored on the same four-point scale, and a score on its own is never enough, the portal allows to upload the evidence behind it and the action that follows.
0 · Not in place
The control does not exist
No procedure, no ownership, no record. Scores zero and drives a corrective action automatically.
1 · Partial
In place but not consistent
The control exists on paper but is not applied reliably, or the evidence is incomplete. Partial credit, with the gap documented.
2 · Fully in place
Operating and evidenced
The control exists, is followed day to day, and there is documentation to prove it.
N/A
Not applicable
Excluded from the denominator rather than scored as a failure, so properties are not penalised for services they do not run.
Evidence
Every answer is supported
Notes and evidence are captured against the question itself, so the reviewer sees the reasoning rather than just the number.
Corrective action
Gaps get an owner
Anything below full compliance carries a corrective action, tracked to closure and re-tested at the next cycle.
Reading the result
Full Maturity Rating allowing for portfolio wide benchmark
Section scores roll into a weighted overall compliance rating, but critical controls are reported separately, so a property cannot pass overall while failing something that matters.
Compliance bands
Excellent, Good, Adequate, Needs Improvement
A plain-English band on top of the percentage, so a General Manager, Director of Finance and a Head of Internal Audit read the same result the same way.
Critical alerts
Flagged independently of the score
Questions marked critical raise an alert on their own. A strong overall percentage never buries a failed critical control.
Section health
Where the gap actually sits
Each section carries its own score and band, so a single overall number resolves into the two or three areas actually causing it.
Workflow
Nothing is finished until someone signs it off
Assessments move through a controlled review cycle with named roles, so a self-assessment carries the same discipline as an audit rather than becoming a tick-box exercise.
In Progress
The assessor works through the questionnaire, scoring each control and capturing evidence.
Submitted
The completed assessment is locked and passed to a reviewer.
Awaiting Review
A reviewer checks scoring and evidence, and either signs off or returns it.
Returned
Rejected assessments go back with comments so gaps are corrected, not argued over.
Signed Off
The result is final, findings become tracked corrective actions with owners.
How it is run
We start it, your team sustains it
The platform is not marked homework. PROFIX conducts the initial assessment, trains your internal team to run it, and stays involved through the review cycle. We created the properties for you to do assessments
We assess first
PROFIX conducts the baseline assessment on site, so the first score is independent, and the standard is set correctly.
We train your team
Your assessors learn what each control means and what evidence is expected, so scoring stays consistent between cycles.
Your team reassesses
Periodic self-assessment on your own schedule, per property, without waiting for an audit to be scheduled.
A reviewer signs off
Nothing is final until reviewed. Rejected assessments return with comments rather than being quietly accepted.
Improve and re-test
Corrective actions carry into the next cycle, so the score becomes a trend rather than a snapshot.
ComplimentaryIncluded with internal audit and risk engagements
Board-readyEvery completed assessment exports as a branded PDF
Per propertyRun across a portfolio, compared side by side
Benchmarking
Compare properties side by side
Select up to four properties and overlay their section performance on a single view. See which property leads, which needs attention, and exactly which sections drive the gap.
Where the gap actually is
Every section scored and overlaid across properties, so a low overall score resolves into the two or three sections actually causing it.
Good, Adequate, Needs Improvement
Each property ranked with a clear compliance band, so the portfolio picture is readable at a glance.
Critical issues surfaced first
Critical questions raise alerts independently of the score, so a property cannot pass overall while failing something that matters.
Questions
Before you run it
Which regulations does the assessment map to?
Federal Law No. 10 of 2015 on food safety, the UAE Food Code, HACCP principles, and municipality requirements including MOCCAE approval for imported products and ZAD system registration. Questions reference the obligation directly rather than paraphrasing it.
Is this a substitute for a municipality inspection?
No. It is designed to tell you what an inspection would find before the inspector does, so gaps are closed while they are still cheap and easy to fix.
Who in the hotel should complete it?
Typically the Food Safety or Hygiene Manager with the Executive Chef, reviewed by the General Manager or Director of Operations. PROFIX runs the first cycle and trains the team who will run the rest.
How long does one assessment take?
A first pass across all 140 points usually takes a working day once evidence is to hand. Subsequent cycles are considerably faster because the evidence trail already exists.
Get Started
Ready to Work With a Firm That Actually Knows Your Industry?
Whether you need a statutory audit, a food safety review, an HMA advisory, or a complete risk advisory engagement — PROFIX Consulting is ready to help.