Speech by SPS Sun Xueling at AVA's Food Safety Awards Night

Jul 20, 2018

Good evening. It is my pleasure to be with you this evening at the 15th Food Safety Awards Night.

As Singaporeans, we love our food. It is thus important to ensure that the products we consume are safe. In this regard, let me thank you all for your commitment in upholding high food safety standards over the years. By doing so, you have also enhanced Singapore’s global reputation. Today, many countries are keen to export food to us because they know that entering our market means that their products have met very high standards. Similarly, food products that are manufactured in Singapore have made good headway in overseas markets.

We want our local food companies to continue to do well and keep pace with changes ahead. Globalisation and technological advancements are constantly transforming the food landscape. Staying ahead of these changes requires both the industry and regulators to seek out opportunities and embrace new technologies. Let me begin by sharing some ideas.   

Re-thinking Business Models

First, we can look at more innovative business models. This will not only allow companies to satisfy regulatory requirements more efficiently, but also present new opportunities for you to distinguish yourself from the competition. This is already happening at some of our local food farms.  I had the opportunity to visit N&N Agriculture and they have invested in pasteurisation facilities to complement their egg layer farm. This has enabled them to expand their product range. They now produce Singapore’s only pasteurised shell eggs, which can be consumed safely even with minimal cooking. They are also able to create processed products such as tamagoyaki and Hanjuku eggs.

N&N’s shift in business model has allowed them to reach out to new customers.  For instance, they now supply their egg products to popular ramen restaurants and 7-Eleven. We hope to see more companies explore new business models and opportunities that can both elevate food safety standards and make our home-grown products more competitive.
Adopting New Technologies

N&N’s expansion was facilitated by its adoption of a patented pasteurisation process developed by a US company. This brings me to my next point on technology adoption. Embracing new technology is critical for local companies to stay ahead of the game. This is why the government works closely with industry to identify developments that can benefit our local players. 

For instance, Enterprise Singapore recently conducted a trip to the US with some of our local manufacturers. The team there learnt about Microwave-Assisted Thermal Sterilisation (MATS), a new technology that can sterilise food in just minutes using microwaves. This produces food with superior shelf-life, taste, texture, and nutrition as compared to traditional sterilisation methods. ESG will continue to work with interested companies to introduce this technology to the Singapore market. Leveraging such technologies can streamline work processes, reduce manpower needs, and improve customer experience.

AVA also works with industry partners to make it more cost effective for companies to adopt new technologies.  For example, at last year’s Food Safety Awards Night, SMS Koh Poh Koon shared how High-Pressure Processing (HPP) could be a game-changer for our food industry as it produces safe, nutritious food with an extended shelf-life. 

To reduce the costs of adopting HPP, AVA worked with Warehouse Logistics Net Asia (WLNA) to explore the feasibility of allowing companies to share HPP equipment, which can be expensive.

I understand that AVA has since licensed WLNA’s first HPP Resourcing Sharing Facility in April this year. It is good to hear that there has been significant interest in this facility. Companies such as Siam Coconut and Golden Bridge have already been engaging WLNA’s services to use the HPP technology on their products. 

We are looking to do even more to help companies in this area. For instance, AVA is now working with the industry to explore the establishment of pilot plants. At these pilot plants, production and research facilities can be made available to entrepreneurs and food establishments to share and minimise start-up and operational costs. We will continue to identify areas for regulatory facilitation to make it easier for companies to adopt new technologies, to bring about more success stories like the HPP.

Improving Regulatory Efficiency

Finally, technology not only holds benefits for the food industry, but for regulators as well. AVA plans to leverage tools like the Internet of Things (IoT), on-site rapid diagnostics, and business analytics, for greater oversight on food safety and to improve manpower efficiency. For instance, AVA will be testing the use of sensors to inspect food establishments. This will reduce the number of man-hours spent on on-site inspections, while allowing officers to better monitor the food safety practices and hygiene of the premises. The data can also be shared with companies, so that you can also better monitor the conditions of your own premises. 

In conclusion, every one of us here has a role to play in upholding Singapore’s hard earned reputation for safe food. Let me once again congratulate all our award recipients. This year, we have a total of 29 companies receiving the Food Safety Excellence Awards. This includes 4 Platinum, 7 Gold, 9 Silver, 9 Bronze award recipients. In addition, 145 recipients will be receiving their Certificate of Commendation this year. With companies such as these constantly upgrading themselves and embracing new technologies, I am confident in our ability to take on future challenges. 

Thank you and I wish you all a pleasant evening.