[1] The agency was first announced on 26 July 2018 as a consolidation of all food-related functions of the Singapore government, which had previously been carried out by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

As part of this move, the National Centre for Food Science (NCFS) was established to consolidate the food laboratory capabilities that were formerly distributed across the different statutory boards.

Concurrently, the AVA was to be abolished, with its non-food plant and animal-related functions to be transferred to the National Parks Board (NParks).

[2][3] The agency was launched on 1 April 2019 by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli.

[4] Singapore was ranked 1st on the Global Food Security Index in 2019.