Singapore’s Health Ministry earlier announcement for drink manufacturers to meet the Nutri-Grade labelling requirement on their drink packaging by 30 December, has led to several players making last minute changes to their ingredients after the deadline.
One such company is Yakult which has quickly introduced Yakult Gold, a healthier probiotic drink rated Nutri-Grade B as it aims to alleviate the negative indirect advertising from its main competitor, Vitagen.
Vitagen Less Sugar is graded B by the authorities while Yakult original recipe has been given a ‘D’ rating due to its 14% sugar content.
Although Vitagen did not explicitly name Yakult and made an effort to blur the bottle from its ad, it is seemingly obvious that the ad is pointing towards the latter’s product as the ad features a man speaking in Japanese language.
Yakult and Vitagen, almost look identical in packaging, have been competing directly as the 2 major players in Singapore for probiotic drinks for decades.
Meanwhile, the Nutri-Grade rating has also caused confusion to both manufacturers and consumers. Fresh milk, which has often been considered healthy, mostly achieve a C rating. Only low-fat milk receives a B rating.
In addition, almost 90 percent of 100% juice products had either a ‘C’ or ‘D’ rating. These so-called ‘healthier’ drinks are now belonging to the same category as isotonic drink and soft drink from Coca Cola and Sprite.
Surprisingly, flavoured soft drinks such as F&N’ Sarsi and Fanta Orange were stamped with a B grade.
A check with the authorities confirmed that the Nutri-Grade rating is based on the sugar and saturated fat content in the drink, both of which are closely linked to the risk of diabetes. Take for example milk. Under current Nutri-Grade guidelines, lactose (sugar found in milk and milk products) or galactose (usually found in lactose) declared on the nutrition information panel is subtracted from the amount of total sugar for the purpose of grading. As such, fresh milk even with no added sugar will get a ‘C’ rating due to its saturated fat content.
Several nutritionists have commented that a higher Nutri-Grade rating does not necessarily mean that the product is healthier as the rating works on a narrow bandwidth of nutrients – namely fats and sugar only. There are other important nutrients like fibre, vitamins and minerals which are not considered in the rating.
Nevertheless, the Nutri-Grade initiative by the Health Ministry could act as a first-level screening for consumers.
Drink manufacturers however are wary of the new grading as products which carry a ‘D’ rating are prohibited from doing advertising.
Drinks that are graded C or D must have their Nutri-Grade labels on the front of the package, whereas it is optional for drinks graded A or B, and they can also use the voluntary Healthier Choice Symbol or Healthier Dining Programme identifier.
By the end of 2023, freshly prepared drinks at the places where they are sold or customised by consumers for example bubble milk tea, smoothies or freshly squeezed blended juices must also come under the Nutri-Grade requirement.
