Healthier Food without Higher Food Bills

12 Mr Chong Kee Hiong asked the Minister for Health (a) what are the main reasons for many healthier foods to be more expensive than unhealthy foods despite healthier foods requiring less processing than unhealthy foods; and (b) whether there will be public education campaigns to (i) help people understand and manage their calorie intake, (ii) increase public awareness of lower sugar choices in the food types commonly consumed by Singaporeans and the problems of artificial sweeteners and (iii) educate consumers on how to eat healthier without incurring higher food bills.

The Minister of State for Health (Mr Chee Hong Tat) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) introduced the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) to help consumers identify healthier food products. Ingredients and food products labelled with the HCS logo − this is the red pyramid − have been well-received by consumers. In a 2015 survey by HPB, 70% of Singaporeans recognise the HCS logo and have used it to make healthier food choices. The market share of HCS products has also increased from 15% in 2012 to 18% in 2016. There are currently about 3,500 food products with the HCS logo, spanning 70 food and drinks categories.

There are ways to eat healthily without buying expensive food. For example, we can eat in moderation and we can choose foods with less oil and salt, or drinks with less sugar or, even better, no sugar. The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Foodfare sells its pre-packaged drinks with the HCS logo at $0.10 cheaper to encourage more consumers to choose these healthier options. HPB has developed lower-cost healthier recipes which are shared with the community through partners, such as the Diabetic Society of Singapore, TOUCH Community Services and NTUC SilverACE.

HPB has also introduced the Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme (HIDS) and the Healthier Dining Programme (HDP) to support industry players to provide healthier ingredients and products to increase the supply and variety of healthier food options for consumers.

Since December 2016, HDP has been extended to hawker centres and coffee shops, where lower-calorie meals are tagged with a "lower in calories" label. HPB has also implemented various public education initiatives, such as the calorie literacy initiative My Healthy Plate and the Eat Drink Shop Healthy Campaign, to reward consumers when they choose healthier options.

On artificial sweeteners, there is consensus amongst international health authorities and medical professionals that such sweeteners can be used as part of a balanced diet to help a gradual shift away from high sugar food and beverages. However, the sale of artificially sweetened food and beverage (F&B) is not allowed in schools in Singapore as we want to prevent children from developing a habit of consuming sweet-tasting food and drinks from a young age. This complements our healthy meals programme in schools which promotes the drinking of plain water.

There is now a growing variety of healthier sugars available for product formulation, such as those derived from natural sources like beetroot. They do not increase blood sugar levels as much as conventional sugars like sucrose and fructose. The Ministry of Health (MOH) is working with the F&B industry to explore the use of these natural sweeteners as part of their product innovation.

We will continue our efforts to raise public awareness and foster a supportive environment for consumers to make healthier F&B choices, and to keep Singaporeans healthy and active.

Mr Speaker: Mr Chong Kee Hiong.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong (Bishan-Toa Payoh): I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. Very often, we go to stores and we find items that are labelled with "low sugar content" cost more than those with "normal sugar content". To the general public, they do not understand why items with low sugar, which is healthier, which they want to choose, but it costs more. The simple thinking is that low sugar means put less sugar, so it should cost at least the same, or not much higher.

I have seen items that are, for example, "normal sugar content", cost, say, $3 and the one with "low sugar" costs $4. The price difference is quite a lot. So, if we want to encourage people to move to a healthier diet, could MOH educate the public on why there is such a big difference?

Mr Chee Hong Tat: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not familiar with which product Mr Chong is referring to, but based on the information that we have, there is a range of different healthier products, including house brands, that are offered by supermarkets that need not cost a lot more and, sometimes, can be very competitive, compared to the other brands that are available in the market.

So, this is one way of helping consumers to be able to have options, including healthier options, to help them to make healthier F&B choices. But Mr Speaker, I want to go back to what I mentioned in my main reply earlier that, eating healthily, there are many different ways of doing so. For example, it is about choosing the amount we eat, deciding on how much we want to eat, eating in moderation.

It is also about how we prepare the food, such as if we steam, compared to deep fry. If we use less oil, less salt, less sugar, less sauces, all these are steps which we can take to prepare healthier food options.

We are also working with our research institutes to look at how the food is prepared as it can also make a difference to the glycemic index. This is a way of measuring, after we have consumed the food, how quickly our blood sugar level will rise. For food with lower glycemic index, there will be a smaller increase in the blood sugar level.

What the studies have found is that if we prepare our food, for example, if we cook the rice, leave it to cool and reheat it later, the amount of resistant starch in the rice will go up, and this helps to lower the glycemic index. So, for the same type of rice, the same amount of rice, we can actually lower the glycemic index by preparing it in a different way.

Other things that they have found include adding, for example, a little bit of chicken stock, or a small amount of healthy oil to the rice will also help to lower the glycemic index.

How we eat the food also makes a difference. Before we begin our meal, if we consume some proteins, for example, clear chicken stock or a glass of unsweetened soya bean milk before we eat our main meal, these will also help to lower the glycemic index of the meal. Or eating it with vegetables, not just the rice alone, and with protein.

So, there are many, many different ways that we can educate consumers and give them more information to help them to make healthier choices.

Mr Speaker: Mr Chong Kee Hiong.

Mr Chong Kee Hiong: I should have been clearer. I was referring to the same brand of kaya. Identical brands. The only difference is which one is less sugar. The actual price is $2.95 versus $3.95 for the one with the lower sugar content.

Mr Chee Hong Tat: Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mr Chong for his clarification. I do not know which brand of kaya he is referring to. I myself like kaya. But because it is quite sweet, I try not to eat too much of it. I think that is one way of making a healthier choice, which is to consume less of it. When we spread the kaya on the bread, do not spread it so thickly. That will be one way of helping to lower the amount of sugar that we consume.

I am not familiar with the brand that Mr Chong mentioned. But sometimes, the reason why certain types of healthier food cost more on a per unit basis is because there is lack of scale. So, when we produce it and there are inadequate economies of scale, the merchant finds it difficult to price it at a very competitive level. We see this happening with healthier cooking oils, with wholemeal bread. During the initial phase when the healthier products are being introduced, it will have to go through this phase where consumers are getting used to it, and the demand is not quite picking up during the initial phase. So, during this period, the lack of scale then leads to prices being higher on a per unit basis.

I do not know if this is the reason for the particular brand of kaya that Mr Chong spoke about, but this is a general observation that we see for different types of food products. With scale, the merchants are able to lower their per unit cost and this can then be passed through to consumers, in terms of lower prices.

Mr Speaker: Given the Senior Minister of State's passion for healthy food, the least we can do is to take heed of his advice at the tea break later.