Halal, Healthier Choice and Nutri-Grade drinks: what each mark means and how to buy by it
Three different marks, three different questions. Halal is about certification, Healthier Choice on this store is about sugar at or below 5g per 100ml, and Nutri-Grade is a compulsory A to D grade, printed on the pack for C and D. Here is how to shop by each.
Three marks come up whenever someone buys drinks for other people in Singapore: Halal, the Healthier Choice Symbol and Nutri-Grade. They answer three different questions, they are checked by three different bodies, and only one of them is compulsory. Here is what each one means and how to shop by it on this store.
Halal
A Halal mark on a drink means a recognised certification body has certified it. In Singapore that is the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) mark, and for imported drinks a foreign body MUIS recognises.
On DrinksNation a product shows the Halal badge only when its pack carries such a mark. We do not infer it from the brand or the ingredients, and a drink without the badge is not being called non-Halal; it means we have not seen the mark on that pack. Use the Halal filter on any collection to narrow it to badged products, and check the badge on the product page before you order for a certified premises.
Healthier Choice
The Healthier Choice Symbol is the Health Promotion Board's voluntary mark. A company applies for it, product by product, against HPB's criteria.
Our Healthier Choice collection is built on the substance rather than the certificate: drinks with sugar at or below 5g per 100ml. That includes drinks that carry the HPB symbol and some that do not, and it leaves out sweeter drinks whether or not they have applied. We say this plainly because the two are not the same thing, and a list that mixed them up would be a list you could not trust. If your policy requires the HPB symbol itself, look for it on the pack.
Plain water has no sugar and qualifies without argument. Unsweetened teas do too.
Nutri-Grade
Nutri-Grade is compulsory. Every ready-to-drink beverage sold in Singapore is graded A to D on sugar and saturated fat. Grade C and D drinks must print the letter on the front of the pack, and a Grade D drink cannot be advertised. Grades A and B may print it but need not.
We print a Nutri-Grade letter only where a person has read it off the pack, so most product pages do not show one. The letter you can rely on is the one printed on the can or packet in front of you. What we can do is sort by sugar: the Healthier Choice collection above, unsweetened tea and water are where the A and B drinks live.
Shopping by the marks
- For a Halal-certified stall, canteen or event: filter to the Halal badge, then check the pack on delivery.
- For an office or school pantry that wants less sugar: start from Healthier Choice, unsweetened tea and water.
- For a "no Grade D" rule: the letter is on the pack; a sweet soft drink is usually C or D, a light tea B, water A.
- For all three at once: unsweetened teas from the big local brands usually carry the Halal mark and sit at 0g sugar. Local herbal and tea drinks is a good place to look.
Where to order
Healthier Choice drinks, unsweetened tea, water and local herbal and tea drinks. Every product page shows the badges its pack has earned and nothing more.
Cartons people start with
- Pokka oolong tea, no sugar, 24 cans of 300ml
- Yeo's green tea, 24 packets of 250ml
- 100 Plus Zero Sugar, 24 cans of 325ml
- Elements water, 24 bottles of 500ml
More collections for this guide
Questions
Are all the drinks on DrinksNation Halal?
No, and we do not say so. A product shows the Halal badge only when its pack carries a recognised Halal mark. Use the badge and the filter, not the brand name, to decide.
Is Healthier Choice the same as Nutri-Grade?
No. Nutri-Grade is compulsory and grades every ready-to-drink beverage A to D on sugar and saturated fat. The Healthier Choice Symbol is a voluntary mark a company applies for. Our Healthier Choice collection is built on the substance, sugar at or below 5g per 100ml, not on who holds a certificate.
Where do I see the Nutri-Grade letter?
On the pack. Grade C and D drinks must show it on the front, and by law a Grade D drink cannot be advertised. We do not print a letter we have not read off the pack ourselves.
Is plain water Healthier Choice?
Water has no sugar, so by the sugar rule it qualifies, and it is the easiest healthier swap for an office or an event.