People Are Indeed Buying Nutri-Grade A & B Drinks After All

By
Chew Ming Hui
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Have you set your New Year’s Resolution yet?

If your New Year’s Resolution is to lose weight, the Health Promotion Board’s got your back. Pre-packaged beverages now carry labels reflecting how healthy they are, so the next time you shop, you can look for healthier drinks.

Yet, even without the labels, Singaporeans were already buying healthier drinks.

Here’s what you need to know about it.

The Beverage Grading System: Nutri-Grade Labels

You might have seen a bunch of coloured labels on your favourite pre-packaged beverages. Those are the labels corresponding to the new four-level Nutri-Grade system.

The system measures the sugar and saturated fat content in beverages and colour codes these beverages accordingly. There are four levels, A, B, C and D, with A being essentially the “most healthy” and D being the “least healthy”.

Beverages which are grade A or B also earn the right to label themselves with a Healthier Choice Symbol. It’s like the Star Awards, but for drinks instead of Mediacorp actors.

The labels are very much like a traffic light—dark green corresponds to category A, light green to B, orange to C, and red to D. Much like when you’re on the road, if you see red, you probably should stop. Don’t buy that drink.

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And trust us when we say the red labels will be prominent. Beverages graded C or D must have their orange or red labels on the front of the packaging, so there’s no way you would miss it.

Even at a vending machine or when sold online, these Nutri-Grade C and D beverages must also have an image of their Nutri-Grade mark.

In most cases, advertisements for Nutri-Grade D drinks are also not allowed.

Itching to find out precisely what Nutri-Grade grade your favourite drink is? Goody Feed’s got your back. Watch this video to find out the Nutri-Grade grade of some popular beverages:

People Already Buying Nutri-Grade A and B Drinks

On Thursday (29 Dec), the Ministry of Health (MOH) shared that the sales of beverages that would have been graded Nutri-Grade A and B have increased in recent years. The sales of such drinks rose from 37 per cent in FY2017 to 71 per cent in FY2021.

That means that the system worked in deterring Singaporeans from buying sugary drinks.

There are also more healthy drinks on the market with low-sugar or zero-sugar options, so you have no excuse not to eat and drink healthier this new year.

Since this grading system was announced in 2019, we’ve already seen a significant drop in the median sugar level of pre-packaged Nutri-Grade beverages. Further, almost two-thirds of these beverages in the market are now graded A or B.

People weren’t kidding when they said they were starting their “hot girl summer”.

Similar System to Apply for Other Beverages By The End of 2023

By the end of 2023, beverages freshly prepared by food and beverage outlets will also be subject to a similar grading system.

That means that beverages like your kopi c from the coffee shop, freshly squeezed juices and Singaporeans’ favourite drink, bubble tea, will also be graded.

Aside from bubble tea, we’re also pretty sure fruit juice isn’t going to rank very well on the system. If you’re drinking fruit juice, you might as well be drinking coke. Watch this video to find out why we say so:

@goodyfeed Why drinking fruit juice is similar to drinking Coke #goodyfeed #goodynewsreel ♬ original sound – Goody Feed

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Featured Image: Abdul Razak Latif / Shutterstock.com

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Chew Ming Hui
Email: [email protected]