SINGAPORE - Students from 10 secondary schools showed off their creativity and came up with "truly Singapore" ice-cream flavours at a competition on Saturday.

Organised annually by Nanyang Polytechnic's (NYP) School of Chemical and Life Sciences and Swensen's Singapore, the competition challenged students this year to use interesting flavours to represent the theme of 'Truly Singapore' in conjunction with SG50 celebrations this year.

Among the ice-cream flavours were Nyonya kaya, rojak and laksa.

Winners of the competition were then selected by a panel of judges based on their innovation, taste and presentation. The winning ice-cream went to the team from Serangoon Garden Secondary School, who won $200 in Swensen's vouchers for their rojak ice-cream. Dunearn Secondary School emerged the second runner-up for their kopi-toast ice-cream, Yuan Ching Secondary school was third for their laksa ice-cream.

Secondary Four student Loh Jia Jun said that his team used the colouring from laksa leaves to give the dessert its green colour. Small pieces of laksa noodles were also added to the final product to create a unique texture.

"We decided to make our own without using chilli and coconut milk so it's healthier," added the 16-year-old.

Assistant director of NYP's School of Chemical and Life Sciences Richard Khaw said he hopes the competition will help students to understand more about food science.

"The food industry is expanding in Singapore and there may be students who like this course but are not very sure what it covers," he said.