Last week, a new law on food safety in Singapore was passed in parliament.
The Food Safety and Security Bill consolidates food-related laws passed at different times.
Grace Fu, Minister of Sustainability and Environment, said food safety hazards can occur at any point in the agri-food chain.
“In Singapore, we often take our safe food supply for granted. This is the result of decades of hard work by stakeholders and the trust they have built in the minds of consumers,” she said.
“Even as this bill updates our food safety regime and strengthens our food security, many of the requirements will not be new to businesses and have already been implemented today. By simplifying and achieving consistency, the bill reduces regulatory complexity for businesses, which in turn reduces compliance costs.”
The Food Control Plan
Between 2022 and 2024, an average of 43 percent of foodborne outbreaks resulted from poor food safety practices by food workers.
It is an offense for a licensed food establishment to employ an untrained individual as a food worker. Companies can use SFA’s Food Handler Digital Data Hub to track their employees’ certification expiration dates.
In cases of recalls initiated by the industry due to food safety concerns, the industry will be required to notify the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) as soon as possible or within 24 hours of making the recall decision.
All licensed companies that are not active in primary production must design and implement a Food Control Plan. This would not prescribe specific measures, but allow companies to think about what works for them to meet food safety outcomes. They will have the flexibility to decide on the preventive measures that suit their operational needs.
The rules allow the SFA to continue with the current practice of appointing food inspectors. It will also allow the agency to appoint “outsourced enforcement officers” to supplement its resources in carrying out selected functions. The scope of powers given to such officers will be more limited.
The regulation will give the SFA the power to establish inspection arrangements, to identify food and other controlled items that require prior approval for import, and to determine the different levels of inspection for specific hazards.
Updated enforcement
The bill aims to bring the maximum penalty for the most serious food-related offenses in line with $50,000 (US$36,500) for a first-time corporate offender and, for a first-time individual offender, up to $25,000 (US$18,300) or a prison sentence of up to 24 months or both. A more serious offense, such as providing unsafe food, carries stiffer penalties than failure to keep records.
An ex-license holder whose food trading license, food business license or feed production license has been revoked will be excluded from holding the same license for a period of up to three years.
Existing arrest powers will no longer be granted. Cases involving fatalities or deliberate contamination of food are referred to the police for investigation.
Koh Poh Koon, Minister of State for Sustainability and Environment, said: “Given the complexity of our food supply chains today, strengthening food safety and security requires joint responsibility and collective effort. To guarantee food safety from farm to fork, every player in the food value chain must do their part.”
The bill will introduce a ‘defined food’ category, including yet-to-be-approved new foods, genetically modified (GM) foods and insect-like species. Once approved, such food will be removed from this list and may be freely supplied in Singapore.
The rules will be implemented in phases by 2028, starting with areas such as defined foods in the second half of 2025.
Singapore will also establish the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) in the coming months.
It will be the frontline organization in the preparation, prevention, detection and response to infectious diseases. The CDA will oversee surveillance and risk assessment, preparedness and response, and management of diseases and outbreaks.
The CDA will work with other agencies, such as the SFA, as part of the approach to prevent, detect and respond to new and emerging threats to public health.
(To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)