Singapore Unveils the Revision to Food Regulation 2021, Involving Nutri-Grade Beverage

On Dec. 30, 2021, Singapore Food Agency (SFA) released Food (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2021¹, which newly includes the concept of Nutri-Grade beverage. The updated regulation will come into effect on Dec. 30, 2022.

The regulation specifies the definition, grading system, labeling, and advertising prohibition related to Nutri-Grade beverage. Details are as below:

Definition

“Nutri-Grade” beverage means any beverage (including any powder or concentrate meant to be reconstituted or diluted with fluids before consumption as a beverage) except alcoholic beverages, special purpose foods, beverages prepared by hand at the place/premise where they are sold, or those that can be customized by the purchaser.

Grading system for Nutri-Grade beverage

Nutri-Grade beverages could be graded into four levels by sugar and saturated fat content:

*a Nutri-Grade beverage’s sugar content is the grams of total sugar per 100 ml in the beverage minus the grams of lactose and galactose per 100 ml in the beverage

It is noteworthy that even though a Nutri-Grade beverage’s sugar content and saturated fat is within the scope of Grade “A”, the actual grade of this product should be “B” if it contains any aspartame, sugar alcohol, carbohydrate alcohol, polyhydric alcohol, or any other substance added in place of sugar to provide a sweet taste.

Labeling requirements

“Nutri-Grade mark” refers to a mark indicating a Nutri-Grade beverage ’s grade and the percentage of sugar content per 100 ml. It is voluntary for enterprises to indicate Nutri-Grade mark on Grade “A” or “B” beverages. However, beverage whose grade is “C” or “D” must be labelled with Nutri-Grade mark. The Nutri-Grade mark shall be indicated on the front of package (where the Nutri-Grade beverage’s name and brand appear, and that is in the prospective purchaser’s principal field of vision).

Notes: the sugar levels in the images are for illustrative purposes only. 

Advertising prohibitions

Advertisements of Grade "D" beverages are prohibited across all media except at point-of-sale (POS) platforms, e.g., shelf talkers, promotional signage at supermarkets, tasting booths, pop-ups at e-commerce sites, etc. However, these materials must display the beverage’s Nutri-Grade mark clearly.

Background

Diabetes is a serious health concern in Singapore, and the number of Singapore residents with diabetes is projected to reach one million by 2050, if without any control measures². Obviously high sugar intake is linked to the increased risk of obesity and diabetes. To help control Singaporeans’ sugar intake and protect health, the Singapore Government decided to introduce mandatory nutrition labels and advertising prohibitions for Nutri-Grade beverages so as to help consumers identify beverages that are higher in sugar and saturated fat, thus encouraging more informed and healthier choices as well as spurring industry reformulation.