Pick up a bottled milk tea in a Singapore supermarket, turn it round, and look for the Nutri-Grade mark. Most people read that letter as a sugar rating — A for barely sweet, D for a sugar bomb.
The letter also counts saturated fat, and whichever nutrient scores worse sets the grade. A drink with almost no sugar can still carry a C or a D.
The rule that decides the letter
The grading system is set out in the Sixteenth Schedule of Singapore's Food Regulations:
"the grade of the Nutri-Grade beverage is the poorer of the following: (a) the sugar content grade…; (b) the saturated fat content grade"
Each nutrient is graded separately per 100 ml, and the drink takes whichever grade is lower.
| Grade | Sugar, g per 100 ml | Saturated fat, g per 100 ml |
|---|---|---|
| A | not exceeding 1 | not exceeding 0.7 |
| B | more than 1, up to 5 | more than 0.7, up to 1.2 |
| C | more than 5, up to 10 | more than 1.2, up to 2.8 |
| D | more than 10 | more than 2.8 |
So a drink with 4 g of sugar per 100 ml — a B on sugar — but 3 g of saturated fat is graded D. The sugar figure on its own would never tell you that.
Why a sweetened drink can never be A
A drink that scores A on both nutrients is still graded B if it contains a sweetener. The schedule names aspartame, sugar alcohols and "any other substance added in place of sugar to provide a sweet taste". Health Promotion Board material labels Grade A as sugar of one gram or less "and no sweetener".
The rule works in one direction only. A sweetener caps a drink at B; it never pushes one lower than B on its own account.
What gets the label, and from when
Grades C and D must be displayed; A and B are optional. The requirement took effect in two stages:
- 30 December 2022 — pre-packaged drinks and drinks from non-customisable automated dispensers, with the mark on the front of the pack.
- 30 December 2023 — freshly prepared drinks in specified settings, such as food and beverage outlets, caterers and workplaces, with the mark beside each drink on the menu.
Health Promotion Board notes a concession for smaller businesses selling freshly prepared drinks.
What "cannot be advertised" actually covers
Regulation 184F bans publishing an advertisement "used or apparently used to promote, directly or indirectly, the sale of a Nutri-Grade beverage graded 'D'". The Health Promotion Board describes this as applying across broadcast, print, outdoor and online media.
It is not absolute. The same regulation allows, among other things, wholesale price lists with no consumption recommendation, a product's name and price on a corporate website or in a press release, point-of-sale advertising for pre-packaged D drinks that shows the mark, and the labelled menus and posters the rules themselves require. A Grade D drink appearing on a menu board is not a breach.
What the grade ignores
Sugar, saturated fat and the sweetener rule are the whole of the calculation. A strong black coffee and a high-protein drink are graded on those same two numbers, with their caffeine and protein left out of account, and so are calories and fibre.
Energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat do still have to appear on the nutrition panel — they are disclosed, just not graded.
Sugar here means total sugar minus lactose and galactose, where those are declared on the panel. A milk-based drink that declares its lactose is therefore not graded on the sugar naturally in milk.
The extension to food is announced, not in force
The Ministry of Health announced in 2024 that Nutri-Grade would be extended, and in April 2025 published the specifications: salt, sauces, seasonings, instant noodles and cooking oil — 23 sub-categories of pre-packed products in retail — graded mainly on sodium or saturated fat, with the same label and advertising rules for C and D. The ministry says this applies "from the middle of 2027".
As of September 2026 the Health Promotion Board describes the specifications as "subjected to World Trade Organisation (WTO) consultations and pending gazettal". The Food Regulations in force still carry Nutri-Grade requirements for beverages only. Anything you read saying the food labels are already required is ahead of the law.
Serving size is outside the grade
The thresholds are set per 100 ml, so a bottle's size never changes its letter. A 500 ml bottle of a Grade B drink at 5 g of sugar per 100 ml still holds 25 g of sugar.
What to do with it
A C or D on a drink with 5 g of sugar per 100 ml or less can only have come from saturated fat, and the nutrition panel will show how much.
The panel is also the better way to compare two drinks, because a single grade covers a wide band and the letter does not say which nutrient set it. The redesigned label announced alongside the food extension is meant to name that nutrient, and will apply to drinks too.
Where this comes from
The grading rules, sweetener rule, lactose adjustment and advertising exceptions are from the Food Regulations under the Sale of Food Act — regulations 184A to 184F and the Sixteenth Schedule — on Singapore Statutes Online, current version as at 17 September 2026. The effective dates and the advertising description are from the Health Promotion Board's Nutri-Grade page, last updated 15 July 2026. The extension is from the Ministry of Health's release of 6 April 2025 and the Health Promotion Board's published specifications.
The Nutri-Grade provisions now in force refer to sugar twelve times and never mention sodium, which is why the food extension is described here as not yet law. The grading schedule likewise never mentions caffeine, calories, protein or fibre, while referring to saturated fat ten times.
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