HPB's Healthier Hawker Programme to offer healthier food in all hawker centres in three years' time   by Eveline Gan     If you eat out frequently, chances are you are consuming 10 per cent more calories than those who often have their meals at home.   This worrying trend is what preliminary analysis from the 2010 National Nutrition Survey has found.   Like our expanding waistlines, Singapore's dining habits have changed through the years. The local survey found that the number of Singaporeans who eat out at least four times a week has increased to 60 per cent in 2010, a 22-per-cent increase from 2004.   In a bid to slim down rising obesity rates, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has launched the Healthier Hawker Programme. If the programme takes off as planned, Singaporeans will soon be tucking into wholesome versions of char kway teow and mee goreng at all local hawker centres in three years' time.   In addition, 51 food companies and eating establishments have pledged to work with HPB to wipe out 25 billion calories from the food supply chain by 2013.   For a start, Yuhua Hawker Centre is the first local hawker centre to kick-start Healthier Hawker Programme. Since last month, 90 per cent of the hawkers have been offering a wide range of dishes prepared using healthier ingredients such as brown rice and whole-grain noodles.   How do the new, improved dishes differ from their original versions?   For one, each dish is now kept within the 500 calorie-portion, after hawkers are taught to control portion sizes.   Said Dr Grace Soon, deputy director of nutrition department, adult health division at HPB: "Dishes are also prepared with healthier oil which is lower in saturated fat. Compared to regular hawker dishes, these new dishes are cooked using whole grain noodles or rice. A bowl would provide you with half of your daily whole grain requirements."   According to Dr Soon, the recommended intake for whole grain foods is two to three servings each day. Yet, the 2010 nutrition survey showed that almost 90 per cent of the population consumed less than two servings of whole grain foods daily.   "People who have a diet rich in whole grains cut their risk of becoming overweight by 50 per cent, compared with those who rarely consume whole grains," said Dr Soon.   Chef John See, who is currently the corporate chef for Infusion, was roped in to help hawkers recreate healthier versions of the original dishes they offered.   He admitted that with dishes like char kway teow, replacing pork lard oil changes the taste of the dish. "But having lard oil chokes your blood vessels and cause heart disease. It is simply not worth it," said Chef See.   Rather than using excessive salt and unhealthy oil, good quality ingredients, Chef See added that the correct cooking method and flavoursome fresh stock can help retain a dish's flavour and taste.   "Getting the hawkers to switch to whole grain products may mean higher cost for them. However, I feel that teaching customers to eat correctly and healthily should be the very aspect of doing business, and people will appreciate this over time," said Chef See.   "If you believe in giving good, healthy food to your customers, you can be assured of having regular business and happy customers."                       This article was featured in Today MY 17, 2011. http://www.todayonline.com/Health/EDC110517-0000213/Healthier-laksa,-anyone?