Legislation
Food Safety and Security Act
The Food Safety and Security Act (FSSA) was passed by Parliament on 8 January 2025 and assented to by the President on 3 February 2025, with the aim of consolidating and refreshing existing food-related legislation, strengthening Singapore’s food safety regime to better protect consumers and public health, and to keep pace with emerging challenges in safeguarding food security.
The FSSA consists of 17 parts, 405 sections, and 2 schedules, and will come into force in tranches. Tranche 1 comprises provisions relating to defined food and non-packaged drinking water and came into force on 28 November 2025.
Part 5 - Defined Food
From 28 November 2025, Parts 5 and 8 FSSA make it an offence to supply in Singapore any defined food, to handle food intended for supply in a way that will or is likely to make the food a defined food, or to produce primary produce that is a defined food.
(a) is, or contains a novel food without a pre‑market approval;
(b) is, or contains a genetically modified food without a pre‑market approval; or
(c) is, or contains, in any form, an edible insect‑like species which is not a catalogued insect‑like species.
Edible insect-like species that have not been listed in the Food Safety and Security (Catalogued Insect-like Species) Order 2025 are defined food.
To get an edible insect included in the Food Safety and Security (Catalogued Insect-like Species) Order 2025, the information to be submitted to SFA for the assessment of new insect species are:
- Scientific name of insect and intended life stage(s) that are meant for human consumption
- Details of the farming and/or processing method, including the type of substrate (i.e material used for feeding insects)
- Evidence of history of use as a human food in a country other than Singapore
- Information relied on to establish that the species and life stage is safe for consumption (e.g. scientific literature, laboratory reports)
- Singapore address or entity of applicant
For more information, please refer to SFA’s Insect Regulatory Framework or contact SFA via the SFA Online Feedback Form.
For more information on novel or GM food, refer to:
Overview of Pre-Market Approval Framework for Novel Food
Guidelines on Applying for Pre-Market Approval for Novel Food
Conditions Related to the Use of Genetically Modified Crops in Food
Part 6 - Provision of Non-Packaged Drinking Water
The safety of Non-Packaged Drinking Water (NPDW) has been regulated under Part 9 of the Environmental Public Health Act (EPHA) since 2019. Part 6 of the FSSA replaces the EPHA and vests in the SFA power to regulate the quality of NPDW supplied by drinking water producers providing a Drinking Water Service (DWS).
Note
The Food Safety and Security (Non-Packaged Drinking Water) Regulations 2025 (FSS (NPDW) Regs) establishes detailed regulatory requirements on the quality of NPDW and DWS. These include setting specific regulatory standards to determine wholesomeness of NPDW, providing details on methodology and assessment to ensure drinking water quality, and imposing special regulatory duties on selected DWS who are capable of producing more than 4 cubic metres of NPDW per day, and are supplying the NPDW. These DWS are called Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP) water providers.
WQMP water providers can only provide a drinking water service following a WQMP approved by SFA. The Food Safety and Security Non-Packaged Drinking Water) Regulations 2025 provides for how to apply for approval of a WQMP and for its annual review. To support this, SFA has provided Guidelines on Water Quality Management Plan for NPDW which comprises best practices on monitoring, assessment, and risk management practices that can be adopted by the WQMP water providers in the preparation of WQMP. A WQMP water providers are also required to review the WQMP at least once a year and submit a report of the review of WQMP to SFA, no later than 31 December of the year.
The FSS (NPDW) Regs also contains offences and penalties for contravening of regulatory requirements, such as not adhering to an approved WQMP when supplying drinking water as DWS.
Other Resources
For more information on the reading of the Food Safety and Security Bill in January 2025, please refer to the following:
Acts of Parliament are available without charge, and updated monthly, at the Singapore Government Statutes online website. Hardcopies of the Acts and Subsidiary Legislation can be purchased from the Toppan Leefung Pte.Ltd. at their Legal Publications retail outlet at No. 1 Kim Seng Promenade #18-01/06 Great World City, East Tower, Singapore 237994, Tel: 6826 9691. Alternatively, you can order the said statutes online via their website.
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