Encourage All Hawkers to Adopt Healthier Cooking Methods and Practices as Part of Efforts Under Healthier Dining Programme

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1856 
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 21 APRIL 2023

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong
MP for Hougang SMC

Question No. 2898

To ask 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 around. 

Answer

Through the Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) Healthier Dining Programme (HDP), 60 per cent 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 (HIDS). 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 (EDSH) Challenge on the Healthy 365 application.