Debated in Parliament on 21 Apr 2023.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Health beyond the current efforts under the Health Promotion Board's Healthier Dining Programme (HDP), whether the Ministry will consider how it can better encourage all hawkers, including those who are not currently part of the HDP, to adopt healthier cooking methods and practices all round.
Through the Health Promotion Board's (HPB's) Healthier Dining Programme, 60% of stalls across all hawker centres and coffee shops have at least one healthier option on their menus as of December 2022. This healthier option may be either a lower-calorie meal, or is prepared using wholegrain staples, healthier oils or lower sodium sauces and seasonings.
To encourage hawkers to adopt healthier cooking, HPB has facilitated easy access to healthier ingredients through HPB's Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme. Examples of healthier ingredients are wholegrain rice, wholegrain noodles, lower saturated fat cooking oils and lower sodium salt, sauces and seasonings. HPB also generates consumer demand for healthier options through regular events and rewarding purchases of healthier options through the Eat, Drink, Shop Healthy Challenge on the Healthy 365 application.
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