During inspection visits to some of Da Nang’s bakeries and mooncake-making establishments on Tuesday, the Food Hygiene and Safety Department under the management of the Ministry of Health found many alarming violations in food safety and hygiene.

Cam Le District’s N Tr Bakery is a typical example of a producer not meeting the city’s food safety and hygiene standards.  In particular, wheat flour, which is the main ingredient of the cakes, was found to be mouldy.  The bakery has up to 13 workers, and produces 2,000 loaves of bread and cakes every day.

Deputy Head of the Food Hygiene and Safety Department, Dr Nguyen Hung Long, inspecting a mooncake kiosk

Also, some of the kiosks selling mooncakes produced by the Bibica and Kinh Do companies in front of the city’s 29 March Park were asked to keep their products out of direct sunlight.  Several samples of their products were collected and sent to Nha Trang City’s Pasteur Institute to test their quality.

The investigators said that a product named “High-Grade Nutritious Mooncakes” made by the Bibica Company did not meet the required nutritional ingredients in accordance with its name.

Recent years have not seen mooncakes being imported from China into the city.  The city is now home to 5 mooncake-making establishments.  This year, the local Department of Industry and Trade will take responsibility for inspecting and checking the food safety and hygiene of mooncakes during the build up to this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival.