By the WahLiao desk · Last verified 28 September 2026
Nutri-Grade is Singapore’s A-to-D label for the sugar and saturated fat in drinks. Grade A has the least, grade D the most, and the label also prints the sugar content as a percentage of the drink. It is compulsory for drinks graded C and D and optional for A and B, which means a drink without a label is not necessarily a bad one. From mid-2027 the same letters move into the sauce aisle, onto salt, seasonings, instant noodles and cooking oil.
One piece of arithmetic makes the label useful. The percentage is grams per 100 millilitres. So a 500 ml bottle marked 10% sugar holds 50 grams of sugar, which is roughly twelve teaspoons. The letter tells you the category. The percentage tells you the dose.
Nutri-Grade: quick facts
| What it grades | Sugar and saturated fat per 100 ml of drink |
| Grades | A (dark green, lowest) to D (red, highest) |
| Label required | Grades C and D. Optional for A and B |
| Since | 30 December 2022 for prepacked drinks and drink dispensers; 30 December 2023 for freshly prepared drinks |
| Grade D | May not be advertised; schools serve only A and B drinks |
| Next | From mid-2027: prepacked salt, sauces, seasonings, instant noodles and cooking oil, across 23 sub-categories |
The WahLiao Verdict
| Cost | Ten seconds per bottle. |
| What you get | A way to compare drinks, and from 2027 sauces and oils, within their own category at a glance. |
| The alternative | Reading the nutrition panel on the back, which says the same thing more slowly. |
| Worth it for | Parents, anyone watching sugar or cholesterol, and anyone who buys drinks by the carton. |
| Skip it if | You mostly drink plain water, plain tea and plain coffee. You already won. |
| Last verified | 28 September 2026, against the Health Promotion Board, HealthHub and the Ministry of Health. |
What do Nutri-Grade A, B, C and D mean?
Every drink in the scheme is graded twice, once on sugar and once on saturated fat, using the same thresholds for every kind of drink. Its final grade is the worse of the two.
| Grade | Sugar per 100 ml | Saturated fat per 100 ml |
|---|---|---|
| A | 1 g or less | 0.7 g or less |
| B | More than 1 g, up to 5 g | More than 0.7 g, up to 1.2 g |
| C | More than 5 g, up to 10 g | More than 1.2 g, up to 2.8 g |
| D | More than 10 g | More than 2.8 g |
Two consequences follow. First, a drink can be low in sugar and still grade C or D because of its fat, which is why full-cream and flavoured milk drinks are the ones most often pulled down a grade. Second, the scheme does not simply reward swapping sugar for sweeteners: a drink sweetened with non-sugar sweeteners cannot earn an A, however little sugar it contains.
How do you read the label in ten seconds?
Look for two things: the letter, and the sugar percentage beside it. Then do one multiplication.
| Pack (illustrative) | Sugar on label | Sugar in the pack |
|---|---|---|
| 250 ml carton | 5% | About 12.5 g |
| 330 ml can | 10% | About 33 g |
| 500 ml bottle | 8% | About 40 g |
| 1 litre carton | 4% | About 40 g, if one person drinks it |
The grade is per 100 ml, so a B in a big bottle can deliver more sugar than a C in a small one. Compare grades between similar drinks; count grams for the one you actually drink.
Why do some drinks have no Nutri-Grade label?
- It is an A or a B that chose not to show it. The label is optional for the top two grades. Some of those drinks carry the Healthier Choice Symbol instead, and every Healthier Choice drink is an A or a B. Others carry neither.
- It comes from a small food business. For freshly prepared drinks, businesses with revenue of no more than $1 million in their latest financial year and fewer than 10 outlets are exempt from mandatory labelling.
- It is outside the scheme. Plain water, for instance, has nothing to grade.
The rule of thumb in a supermarket fridge, then: a C or D must tell you, so a drink without a label is most likely an A or B. It is not a guarantee, so glance at the sugar figure on the back.
Which drinks does Nutri-Grade cover?
Ready-to-drink bottles, cans, cartons and packets, including juices, milk drinks and drinking yoghurts, and also powders and concentrates meant to be mixed with water, such as 3-in-1 coffee and cordials. Drinks from automatic dispensers have been covered since the start, and freshly prepared drinks, such as bubble tea and kopi from chains, since the end of 2023, with the grade shown on menus and signs.
Grade D drinks may not be advertised, apart from at the point of sale. Schools may serve only A and B drinks.
Has Nutri-Grade worked?
By the government’s own measure, yes. The Ministry of Health reported that the median sugar level of prepacked Nutri-Grade drinks fell from 7.1% in 2017 to 4.6% by September 2023, and that A and B drinks rose from 37% to 69% of what people bought. Much of that came from manufacturers quietly reformulating to avoid a red D on the front of the pack. The label changed the product before it changed the shopper.
What changes in mid-2027?
The next target is salt and saturated fat. High blood pressure and high blood cholesterol affected 37.0% and 31.9% of Singapore residents respectively in 2021 to 2022; residents eat nearly twice the recommended amount of sodium; and saturated fat makes up about 36% of the fat they eat, above the recommended ceiling of 30%. The main sources are salt, sauces, seasonings and instant noodles for sodium, and cooking oil for saturated fat.
So from mid-2027, Nutri-Grade extends to 23 sub-categories of prepacked salt, sauces, seasonings, instant noodles and cooking oil sold in retail settings, meaning supermarkets, grocery stores, online stores and vending machines, as well as some service settings such as hospitals, hotels and office pantries. The key differences from drinks:
- Each sub-category has its own thresholds. A soy sauce is compared with soy sauces, not with water. A grade-A soy sauce is good for a soy sauce.
- The primary nutrient is sodium or saturated fat, depending on the product, with secondary nutrients such as sugar also counted where they matter. The final grade is set by the worst of them.
- Grade D products lose advertising, as D drinks did.
Expect the same pattern as with drinks: reformulated recipes on the shelf before the labels arrive, and a quiet contest among brands to stay out of the red.
How to shop with Nutri-Grade
- Switch within the category. The label works best between similar products: one kopi-in-a-can against another, one chocolate milk against another.
- Count grams on the drinks you have daily. The daily carton matters more than the occasional treat.
- Treat D as occasional, not forbidden. The grade describes the drink, not your character.
- From 2027, read the sauce aisle the same way. A lighter soy sauce or a lower-grade oil is a small change repeated at every meal.
Frequently asked questions
What is Nutri-Grade?
A mandatory front-of-pack label in Singapore that grades drinks from A to D by their sugar and saturated fat per 100 ml, and shows the sugar as a percentage of the drink.
What does Nutri-Grade C mean?
More than 5 g and up to 10 g of sugar, or more than 1.2 g and up to 2.8 g of saturated fat, per 100 ml, whichever gives the lower grade. The label is compulsory for C drinks.
Why doesn’t my drink have a Nutri-Grade label?
Most likely it is graded A or B and the maker chose not to show the mark, or it carries the Healthier Choice Symbol instead. Small food businesses are also exempt for freshly prepared drinks.
Is a Nutri-Grade A drink healthy?
It is among the lowest in sugar and saturated fat of all drinks. Water is still the benchmark, and a drink cannot earn an A if it uses non-sugar sweeteners.
When will Nutri-Grade apply to sauces and instant noodles?
From mid-2027, covering 23 sub-categories of prepacked salt, sauces, seasonings, instant noodles and cooking oil sold in retail settings, including online.
Read next
This page belongs to How Supermarket Works, our series on the grocery network behind the shelf. Continue with what best before and use by really mean and supermarket house brands and when they are worth it.
Sources checked 28 September 2026: Health Promotion Board, Measures for Nutri-Grade; HealthHub, Nutrition 101; MOH on Nutri-Grade for sodium and saturated fat (April 2025); published summaries of the grading rules. Pack examples are illustrative. This page explains labels; it is not dietary advice for any individual. Last updated 28 September 2026.
