Singaporeans' comments about
TRANS FATS AND THE HPB
Trans fats and the HPB
The Singapore Health Promotion Board (HPB) on 21 December 2006 called a press conference to explain why it would not require trans fat labelling iand why it was not in favour of a ban on trans fats in Singapore.
It gave a long list of reasons / excuses. However, the one reason given by the Health Promotion Board / HPB that seem to have most riled Singaporeans is this:
| About 70 per cent of packaged food products in Singapore currently do not carry trans fat labelling and will be affected. This will drastically limit the choice of food Singaporeans have right now. Passing legislation on trans fats would result in trade barriers. |
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Here is a sampling of views and comments, taken from blogs and Internet forums, about trans fats and the HPB:
Trans fats and the HPB - Mr Wang Says So
Mr Wang Says So is one of Singaore's most popular blogs. On 10 January 2007, Mr Wang Says So wrote:
Singapore is a country that generally just loves making things illegal.
For example, we ban oral sex; gay sex; unlicensed public speeches; Jevohah's Witnesses; cats from HDB flats; durians from public buses; 4-man public demonstrations and non-constructive critics.
One might think that trans fats are a sure target for a ban in Singapore. After all, trans fats have a definite link to heart disease and absolutely no known health benefit.
Surprise... Singapore's Health Promotion Board does not think it's necessary to ban trans fats. It does not even think that it should be compulsory for food manufacturers to state the trans-fat content on their product labels...
More interesting reasons given by the HPB are these: The HPB is hesitant to pass legislation on trans fat as this would result in trade barriers...
Aha. Economic reasons, for not banning trans fats. Commercial reasons, for not requiring trans-fat food labelling. Once again, this sounds like the Singapore we know. Doesn't it?
I feel a little sad to see the Health Promotion Board provide such reasons. I checked their mission statement - it says things like "to empower Singaporeans to achieve optimal health" and "to ensure accessibility to health information and preventive health services".
It didn't say anything like, "to promote the business of fast-food restaurants" or "to facilitate international trade in food products".
Should trade barrier issues really be in the purview of HPB nutritionists like Grace Soon?
Mr Wang Says So's post about trans fats and the HPB drew 21 comments as of 22 January. Anonymous said...
As usual, we just keep putting up barriers, barriers to our making of informed choices.
YCK asked about trans fats and the HPB...
Does its name not suggest that the health of the citizens of Singapore should be its top priority? How does the economic costs in trade weigh against the health cost and death resulting from the lack of regulation now? May the HPB attempt to enlighten us on this soon.
Anonymous said...
In Taiwan, they have a requirements for all the imported items to lable the trans fat. What the importers do is to print out stickers of the contents in the cans and stick it over the existing label.
You can get retirees to do things like this... does not add much cost to it. HPB is the taking the easy way out.
Click here to read the full discussion about trans fats and the HPB at Mr Wang Says So.
Trans fats and the HPB @ Sammyboy's Alfresco Coffee Shop
Apart from these few posts, however, there is really not a lot of discussion about trans fats and the HPB.
One popular Singapore forum is Sammyboy.com's Alfresco Coffee Shop. I visited, did a search for trans fats, and found five threads, started by three people.
All the five threads were were actually copies of articles from elsewhere, and (not to boast but...) three of them were copies of my letters to the press about trans fats and the HPB.
A post by Makata carried this headline:
Richard slap MOH (Ministry of Health) Elites on trans fats! ... Yet such an informative letter was only allowed to be published online by the 147th in order that the fake elites' ego can be protected.
(In case you wonder.... 147th refers to the Singapore press, which was ranked 147th in the world in terms of press freedom!)
None of the posts drew any discussion. They were just single posts -- which only serves to confirm my suspicion that most Singaporeans ddon't really know and care about trans fats and the HPB's stand on the issue.
The latest development is that trans fat labelling was raised in Parliament by an MP, Mdm Halimah Yacob.
Disappointingly, the Minister of State for Health Mr Heng Chee How replied with another "No” to trans fat labelling.
Equally disappointing to me was the fact that the Minister for Health. Khaw Boon Wan, left it to his junior to handle the matter. Was it not an important enough issue for him to address personally?
