The Ministry of Health introduced two new strategies on 10 Oct as part of the War on Diabetes. Pre-packaged beverages that are high in sugar will need to display a new colour-coded front-of-pack nutrition summary label. A total ban on advertising will also be imposed on beverages that are deemed the unhealthiest and graded the lowest on the label.
Each beverage will be assigned a summary grade based on its nutritional quality, where sugar content will be the main but not the only determinant. Factors like the amount of fat and trans-fat in the drink will also be taken into account. Label design and grading details will be announced in the first half of 2020.
The labels are aimed at helping consumers identify less healthy beverages and to make more informed choices.
Dean, Professor Teo Yik Ying said evidence from other countries such as Chile and France have shown that such labels work in guiding consumers towards healthier products.
He added, “However, it is important to highlight that in rolling out this front-of-pack label, there is a need to educate the public on how to interpret these labels, and to remind them not to compare across food categories. For example, a fruit juice that scores a D grade cannot be compared to a soft drink that scores a B grade.”
Media coverage:
- War on Diabetes: Unhealthy label for high-sugar drinks, total ban on ads to be introduced in Singapore, Straits Times, 10 October 2019
- New mandatory nutrition labels, advertising ban for pre-packaged drinks high in sugar, Channel NewsAsia, 10 October 2019
- Singapore Tonight, Channel NewsAsia, 10 October (segment at 1:50–6:15)
- 我国将禁止高糖饮料广告 较不健康饮料须印营养标签, 8 World News, 10 October 2019
- Channel 8 News Tonight, 10 October 2019 (segment at 0:55–3:40)
- Hello Singapore, Channel 8 News, 10 October 2019 (segment at 1:40–5:00)
- Singapore bans ads for high sugar drinks, The New Paper, 11 October 2019
- 学者：对高糖饮料开征糖税须全盘考量, Lianhe Zaobao, 11 October 2019