Apr 3, 2011
Wholegrain noodles, brown rice among options at all hawker centres in three years
In three years' time, you will be able to choose healthier versions of local dishes like char kway teow made with wholegrain noodles at all hawker centres in Singapore - and at no extra cost.
The Health Promotion Board (HPB) unveiled these plans yesterday at the launch of its new Healthier Hawker Programme, which aims to stem the rising obesity rates here. The latest National Health Survey last year showed that one in 10 Singaporeans is obese.
Explaining the move, HPB chief executive Ang Hak Seng said more Singaporeans are eating out, with seven in 10 consuming more than the daily recommended calorie intake. Of these, about 15 per cent eat at least twice the recommended daily amount, he added.
An average adult should consume about 2,000 calories a day.
The number of people who eat at hawker centres, food courts and coffee shops at least four times a week has also risen from 49 per cent in 2004 to 60 per cent last year, preliminary results from the HPB's new National Nutrition Survey showed.
'We tell people to eat healthier food. But if they go to the hawker centre, there's no healthy food. That's the issue,' said Mr Ang at Yuhua Hawker Centre, which became the first in Singapore to offer healthier choices.
Nearly all of the 53 stalls there now provide options like brown rice and wholegrain noodles besides regular white rice and noodles. The dishes are cooked using a mix of palm and soya bean oil that contains 25 per cent less saturated fat than pure palm oil, which is commonly used by hawkers.
Customers can refer to signs put up at each stall which give the calorie counts of dishes - both the regular ones and the healthier versions.
Mr Ang said the HPB sent chefs to 'experiment' with hawkers on how to incorporate healthier ingredients into their dishes. This is because cooking times can vary. Wholegrain noodles, for instance, take longer to cook, he said.
Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu acknowledged that hawkers may resist making the switch to healthier ingredients as such products cost more.
But under the programme, they will be linked to wholesalers willing to sell such ingredients at prices comparable to the regular versions.
'Hawkers can join this programme without worrying about higher costs,' she said.
Chairman of Yuhua Hawkers' Association Karney Ngai admitted many hawkers were initially hesitant about the initiative. Pointing out the use of brown rice as a key issue, she said: 'They were worried that people cannot adapt to eating brown rice all of a sudden.'
To ease them in, she said hawkers will first add small amounts of brown rice for those who ask for these healthier versions, such as mixing 30 per cent brown rice with white rice, before gradually increasing the proportion.
Madam Lea Choon Ngoh, 56, who was spotted having bak kut teh with white rice, said she was unaware that a brown rice option was available.
'But since they have it, I guess I wouldn't mind giving it a try next time,' said Madam Lea, who eats at the hawker centre up to twice a week.
Yesterday's launch also included 51 food manufacturers, supermarkets, restaurants, caterers and food courts pledging to cut 25 billion calories from the food supply chain by 2013.
Nestle Singapore, for instance, will reduce portion sizes of its food products, said its managing director Valerio Nannini. The company plans to roll out single-finger Kit Kat bars later this year.
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