Many businesses on government premises have yet to clear their shelves of sweet drinks, with less than a month to go for the implementation of the Healthier Drinks Policy. The Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) Whole-of-Government Healthier Drinks Policy, which takes effect from May 2018, states that all pre-packaged drinks sold on government premises should meet the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) lower-in-sugar guidelines.
The more stringent guidelines follows a move by the Government to combat a rise in diabetes.
A check with several government-owned premises around Singapore, such as the National Library branches, hospitals and community centres, showed that sugared drinks are still being sold. However, not all operators are waiting till the end of the month to change their menus. A spokesman for Singapore Polytechnic (SP) told The Straits Times that from October 2017, freshly prepared coffee and tea have been served without sugar by default at all of its food and beverage outlets.
An HPB spokesman said with the switch in drink offerings, the Government was seeking to cultivate a palate for less-sweet food and drinks among Singaporeans and to increase the demand for such options.
The spokesman also said that HPB will be doing spot checks from next month at government premises.
These new requirements come a year after the healthier catering policy was implemented for events organised by the public sector.
As of February 2018, the Health Promotion Board’s list of healthier caterers ran to nearly 100 firms.
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Source: The Straits Times, 10 April 2018