Diputados y sectores vinculados al turismo estudian proyecto sobre valor energético de los alimentos

The Permanent Health Commission of the Dominican Republic’s Chamber of Deputies met with representatives of the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR), the Association of Hotels and Tourism of the Dominican Republic (ASONAHORES), the Dominican Association of Casual and Quick-Service Restaurants (ADECOR), the Dominican Association of Restaurants (ADERES) and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs (MICM) to discuss legislation requiring calorie information on food sold by restaurants and other establishments.

The meeting, held at the Rafaela Alburquerque Hall of the Chamber of Deputies, was chaired by commission president Deputy Diómedes Rojas. The initiative seeks to make the energy value of prepared foods available to consumers, while representatives of the restaurant and tourism sectors raised questions about how the requirement could be implemented across an industry with a wide variety of establishments, menus and recipes.

A Bill That Has Returned to Congress

The proposal is not new to the Dominican legislative system. A previous version was approved by the Senate in 2023, with the stated objective of establishing rules for identifying the caloric value of food served in restaurants and other food outlets. The Senate said at the time that the initiative was intended to contribute to the prevention of obesity and other diet-related conditions.

The measure was subsequently reintroduced during the current legislative period. The Senate registered a new initiative, 01311-2026-PLO-SE, on January 20, 2026, sponsored by Senator Alexis Victoria Yeb. It was assigned to the Permanent Commission on Public Health and was taken into consideration on March 4.

The Senate approved the 2026 initiative in first reading on March 11 and in second reading on March 18. The official Senate record shows 24 votes in favor, with 26 senators present, for the second-reading vote.

Restaurant Industry Raises Implementation Questions

ADECOR representatives supported the objective of giving consumers access to nutritional information but emphasized the operational implications of making calorie information mandatory. The association argued that the requirement could represent an additional regulatory burden and pointed to the existing responsibilities of public institutions, including the ministries responsible for health and tourism, in supervising the sector.

ASONAHORES likewise described access to calorie information as a viable opportunity for consumers while highlighting the practical difficulties involved in applying a uniform requirement across the country’s food-service industry. Restaurants differ substantially in their menus, recipes and operating models, making the calculation and continuous updating of calorie values a potentially complex task.

The association said that any measure should be technically feasible and capable of being enforced effectively without creating administrative requirements that could make compliance unnecessarily difficult.

Health Information and Consumer Choice

The legislation is centered on providing consumers with additional information before they purchase prepared food. Calorie labeling can allow diners to compare menu items using a standardized measure of energy content, although the practical value of such information depends on the accuracy and consistency of the calculations used by establishments.

The Dominican Senate previously linked the proposal to concerns over excess calorie consumption, overweight and obesity. The current legislative process therefore combines a public-health objective with questions about how nutritional information would be generated, displayed and supervised across restaurants and other food outlets.

Tourism Sector Sees Potential Consumer Benefit

The Ministry of Tourism expressed support for initiatives that can strengthen the sector and contribute to confidence among both Dominican and foreign visitors. For an industry that serves millions of travelers through hotels, restaurants and other food establishments, nutritional information could become another element of the information available to consumers when choosing meals.

The participation of MITUR and tourism-industry organizations also reflects the scope of the proposal beyond conventional restaurants. The measure could affect businesses serving domestic consumers as well as establishments operating within the country’s large tourism and hospitality sector.

The discussion in the Chamber of Deputies comes after lawmakers have already considered earlier versions of the initiative. In July 2025, the House returned the then-existing version to committee review after determining that it was not ready for final consideration. The official record shows that the decision was approved unanimously by 121 deputies present for that vote.

Next Step Is Further Legislative Review

The latest meeting gives legislators an opportunity to consider the concerns of government institutions and the private sector before the initiative advances. The commission indicated that the proposal would be presented to the full Chamber of Deputies for consideration after the committee’s work.

The bill remains subject to the Dominican Republic’s legislative process and is not yet a requirement for restaurants. Its eventual implementation would depend on approval by Congress and completion of the constitutional procedure required for legislation to take effect.