Inspecting moon cake production facilities in 18 provinces and cities

The inspection of moon cake production facilities from the first day of the eighth lunar month to the full moon festival will target 18 key provinces and cities, said Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Deputy Director of the Department of Food Safety and Hygiene, Ministry of Health.

Each interdisciplinary inspection team in 18 provinces and cities is responsible for taking 10-20 moon cake samples, some teams have to take 40 samples, for testing. According to the assignment, 3 inspection teams under the charge of the Ministry of Health will inspect in Hai Duong, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Nghe An, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, Vinh Long.

A delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will inspect the provinces of Gia Lai, Kon Tum, and Dak Lak. A delegation from the Ministry of Industry and Trade will visit Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Tay Ninh. A delegation from the Ministry of Science and Technology will inspect the provinces of Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, and Ninh Thuan.

Chinese mooncake fillings were seized on Thuy Khe street, Hanoi on August 23.

Observing that many establishments started producing cakes from the 1st of the 8th lunar month, Mr. Han Tu Do - Inspector of the Hanoi Department of Health, commented that this partly shows a positive signal about not abusing preservatives to prolong the shelf life of the product. "Normally, moon cakes have a shelf life of only 7-30 days.

For baked cakes, the expiration date is longer but not more than 2 months. If you find that the moon cake has exceeded the above expiration date but is still not spoiled, please report it to the authorities to find the cause,” said Mr. Do.

From the recent discovery of 2 tons of moon cake fillings and salted eggs with Chinese labels without documents of origin in Hanoi, there are opinions that perhaps those cake fillings of unknown origin will have all documents legalized when entering the production facility?

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong replied: “People have the right to infer like that, but to confirm whether or not there is such fraud must be based on the official conclusion from competent agencies such as the police, market management, and health inspectors. If we find such, we will request strict handling according to the provisions of the law, and at the same time, publicly announce the names and addresses of violating establishments on the mass media as a warning.”

Mr. Phong also suggested that, in addition to criticizing violations, the press should also report on establishments that do well in ensuring food safety to encourage those establishments and also guide consumers to safe products.

Surprise inspection of 3 facilities in Xuan Dinh, Hanoi

In a recent surprise inspection of 3 handicraft establishments in Xuan Dinh (Tu Liem - Hanoi), of which 2 households make cakes and one household makes the filling and crust, the Hanoi Department of Health Inspectorate found no signs of violations. In Xuan Dinh, moon cakes are still made traditionally, so the filling is mainly produced on-site.

Of the 31 households registered in Xuan Dinh this year, only 15 make cakes while 16 make fillings and crusts. “The volume of fillings is always much larger than the crust. This is the group most at risk of bacterial contamination as well as chemical abuse,” said Mr. Han Tu Do.

Asked whether there is a phenomenon of moon cakes made in Xuan Dinh but disguised as big cake brands, Mr. Nguyen Viet Cuong, Chief Inspector of the Hanoi Department of Health, said, "That phenomenon has not happened recently." Mr. Cuong also said that he has not discovered any moon cakes that have not gone bad for several years in Hanoi.

Regarding the batch of Chinese mooncake fillings at Hilton Hotel, Hanoi, their seals have not been removed since August 25, according to the Hanoi Health Department Inspectorate.

Mr. Han Tu Do, a member of the Ministry of Health's interdisciplinary food safety inspection team No. 2, said that as of yesterday afternoon, Hilton Hotel had not yet presented documents certifying the origin of the batch of mooncake fillings including lotus seed, taro, green tea, etc. that were sealed during the inspection last weekend.

Responding to Tien Phong via phone, Ms. Le Thi Hong Hao - Deputy Director of the National Institute for Food Safety and Hygiene Control, head of the inspection team, said that she will respond to the test results of the moon cake filling samples that the team collected during the inspection.

(According to Tien Phong)