MARCH 2022 — Cruffins, brown sugar milk tea, and salted-egg everything. The latest viral food fads always seem to be on the tip of the tongue of every Singaporean.

But do these contemporary treats truly reflect the prevailing food choices that we make today?

The New Food Trend: Functional and Convenient

One of the latest food trends involves the consumption of rambutans fermented in salt water, which is supposed to give significant health benefits.

However, during an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Dr Heng Kiang Soon, a nutritionist, researcher and lecturer from RP School of Applied Science (SAS), pointed out that the perceived health benefits of food fads like fermented rambutans are not as significant as they may seem.

As fun as food crazes are, Dr Heng finds it important to differentiate fashionable food fads and actual food trends.

“Food trends are widespread changes in food choice preference by consumers. Some food trends are long-lasting, while others prove to just be food fads,” he remarked. 

So, what does he think the latest food trends in Singapore are?

Over the last two years, he has observed that consumers tend to choose foods with specific functional purposes, such as enhancing body immunity. Convenience has also become an important factor in food choices, with frozen cooked food and ready-to-eat food rising in popularity. These could be attributed to increasing health-consciousness and dining restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sustainable food options such as plant-based, alternative protein innovation or eco-friendly packaging has been a global trend in the food industry as well.

Examples of these include the Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D Programme, led by Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and A*STAR; and grants like the Sustainable Urban Food Production Grant, the Future Foods: Alternative Proteins Grant, and the Food Safety Science and Innovation Grant, which RP has been actively involved in.

Through this, he sees a concerted push toward the development and use of productive, climate-resilient, innovative and sustainable technologies for agriculture and aquaculture. Biotech-based foods and ingredients, underpinned by a robust future-ready food safety system, are also top of mind.

“Businesses that survive and grow are the ones which are capable of meeting the changing needs of consumers. Hence, innovation, development of new food products and/or services becomes an important currency that drives the economic growth of companies and countries,” shared Mr Samuel Aw.

Fuel Up with the Latest Food and Nutrition Know-How at RP

As part of RP’s ongoing efforts in providing lifelong learning opportunities, a set of food-themed Continuing Education and Training (CET) courses have been rolled out, and are available to anyone interested in delving more into the topic of food and nutrition. These include courses like the Diploma in Applied Science (Nutrition and Food Science), Everyday Botanica, Nutrition for Healthy Living, and Knowing Your Nutritional Needs. 

RP’s wide range of resources and learning opportunities provide enhanced support to students, alumni and industry partners alike. It also enables RP to be a driving force in the growth of agrifood technology and innovation, with the goal of strengthening food security in our nation.

For those keen on exploring the world of food and innovation, check out the amazing research done by RP’s Formulation and Nutrition Science Technology Centre (FANSTC), Agriculture Research and Innovation (AGRI) Centre and Sustainable Aquaculture Technology Centre (SATC), or sign up for our range of lifelong learning courses to begin your journey.