Facing steep ingredient, energy, and labor bills, hawkers are attempting to balance affordability with consumer demands for substantial portions by padding meals with rice, noodles, or fries. The Health Promotion Board's 2025 survey demonstrated that this widespread practice has meaningfully compromised diet quality across the island despite falling sugar consumption. Notably, 80 per cent of 182 monitored hawker dishes shifted nutritional composition, with median dish counts rising by 40 kilocalories between 2023 and 2025.
Key points
Hawkers are swapping expensive cuts of meat for larger carbohydrate portions to offset so…: Hawkers are swapping expensive cuts of meat for larger carbohydrate portions to offset soaring business costs without raising menu prices.
Median sodium levels expanded by 10 per cent among prepared dishes that did not incorpora…: Median sodium levels expanded by 10 per cent among prepared dishes that did not incorporate lower-sodium ingredients.
Operators face intense customer pressure to keep dishes filling, locking them into recipe…: Operators face intense customer pressure to keep dishes filling, locking them into recipe tweaks to avoid losing patronage.
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Some hawkers are absorbing higher operating costs, while others are adjusting portions or dropping ingredients. CNA looks at how these decisions could have unintended consequences for consumers' diets and what could be done.
At Western Barbeque, a stall at Bedok Interchange Hawker Centre, keeping meals affordable has meant making some difficult compromises.
Over the past three years, the cost of certain meats has risen by about 20 to 30 per cent, prompting the seller to reduce portions of the more expensive cuts rather than raise prices.
For more expensive meats such as beef and lamb, the stall has had to reduce portions from about 320g to 280g. To make up for the smaller meat portions, it has increased the portion of sides such as fries and coleslaw, potentially changing the share of calories coming from carbohydrates and fat.
An employee who wanted to be known only as Mr B K Chong said: "Customers (tend) to prioritise portion size and taste." He also noted that they generally expect their meals to be filling.
His predicament reflects the pressures facing hawkers across…
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