According to Mr Ang Hak Seng, chief executive officer at HPB, the aim of the programme is to boost the presence of healthy, tasty and affordable food choices through the hawker centres, by having hawkers use healthier ingredients as the default, without patrons having to ask. He says ‘The impetus for the Healthier Hawker Programme was to improve the accessibility of healthier food. It is important to complement public education about healthier eating, with sufficient opportunities to purchase healthy food that is tasty and affordable.’
He added, ‘Professional chefs were contracted to work with hawkers to experiment and provide advice on how to prepare dishes with the healthier ingredients,’ which are available at Yuhua, Eunos Crescent, Haig Road and Geylang Serai as well as three coffee shops in Bukit Batok East, Marsiling and Hong Kah North. But what are these healthy ingredients replacing?
On average, the daily intake of saturate fats in Singapore is 60% over the recommended amount. Ang commented, ‘Too much saturated fat, a bad fat, has the effect of raising blood cholesterol levels and thus increases risk of heart disease,’ adding that participating hawker stalls are using healthier cooking oils which are at least 25% lower in saturated fat than oils used before. These oils also contain more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are responsible for improving heart health. They do this by reducing blood clotting in your arteries and lowering your blood cholesterol level.
It has also emerged that one in 10 Singapore residents are classified as obese, and these rates are on the rise. This is a worldwide epidemic, and certainly evident here in the UK, and so even without Singapore’s new hawker programme, something needs to be done. Obesity increases your risk of diabetes, heart diseases and several other health conditions, but you can reduce this risk with a diet rich in whole grains. So, if you are dining out, go for plain white rice or brown rice, which is higher in fibre, B vitamins and minerals.