Singaporean government pushes for healthy hawker food
Country’s Health Promotion Board wants almost half of stalls to offer at least one healthy option, which the trade says is unrealistic
By Tan Weizhen
By 2019, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) aims to have 40 per cent of the 13,000 hawker centre and coffee shop food stalls here offer at least one healthy food option — double the current proportion.
It started the journey to that goal in December, when it extended the Healthier Dining Programme to hawker centres and coffee shops. More than 2,700 stalls across 60 hawker centres and 450 coffee shops have since come on board.
These include Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre and Tampines Hub Hawker Centre. The programme, launched in 2014, started with restaurants, cafes, food courts, food kiosks and caterers, with more than 1,600 participating outlets to date.
While touring the Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre yesterday, which is now on the programme, Senior Minister of State (Health) Chee Hong Tat told reporters: “The main objective is to ensure that ... for consumers who wish to eat healthily, they have healthier options.”
But Mr Hong Poh Hin, chairman of the Foochow Coffee Restaurant and Bar Merchants Association, which represents more than 400 coffee shops, thinks the 40 per cent target is unrealistic.