Increasingly, Singaporeans are dining more frequently outside of home due to evolving lifestyles and for convenience. According to the National Nutrition Survey 2010, 60% of Singaporeans eat out for lunch and/or dinner at least four times a week. With the War on Diabetes announced in 2016, there has been an even greater importance on health promotion and disease prevention.

With this background, to encourage the use of healthier ingredients by the food service industry so as to improve the diet quality of Singaporeans when eating out, Health Promotion Board introduced the Healthier Ingredient Schemes - Healthier Ingredient Development Scheme (HIDS) in 1 July 2017, and Healthier Ingredient Promotion Scheme (HIPS) in 1 July 2018.