Debated in Parliament on 14 Oct 2024.
Mr Ong Hua Han asked the Minister for Health (a) whether additional steps will be taken to encourage food and beverage (F&B) establishments to display calorie and nutrition information alongside their menus; and (b) whether the Ministry is considering new regulations for F&B chains to provide such information to enable consumers to make more informed decisions in choosing healthier food.
We have not made it a requirement for food and beverage (F&B) establishments to display calorie information. Based on our population disease profile, the Ministry of Health (MOH) assessed it is more important to provide information on nutrients that will be harmful if over-consumed, namely, sugar, sodium and saturated fat.
We, therefore, have several initiatives in place to achieve this. For example, larger F&B establishments are required to display Nutri-Grade labels on their menus for Grade C or D beverages that are higher in sugar and saturated fat.
Under the Health Promotion Board (HPB) voluntary Healthier Dining Programme, participating F&B establishments may display identifiers on their store fronts and menu boards to inform consumers of the availability of healthier options, including those that are lower in sugar or calories. As of March 2024, more than 3,100 F&B establishments, with over 9,000 outlets island-wide, have joined the Healthier Dining Programme.
We are also planning to introduce mandatory labelling of prepackaged products, for example, sauces and seasonings, for sodium and saturated fat content, and will continue to encourage F&B establishments to choose healthier ingredients.
MOH and HPB will continue monitoring the impact of existing measures. We remain open to considering further measures, voluntary or mandatory, that are practicable and implementable in our local context, to support Singaporeans in adopting healthier diets.
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