On the hunt for 'dangerous' mooncakes

S'pore's food agency conducts checks and tests to ensure the pastries are safe to eat this Mid-Autumn Festival

- Chin Hui Shan

The Mid-Autumn Festival, which will be celebrated on Oct 6, is usually marked with an explosion of colour, from showy lanterns to mooncakes that come in a dizzying array of colours and flavours.

But to ensure these tasty pastries are safe to eat during the annual celebration of the end of the autumn harvest, food scientists from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) work in a much less variegated environment.

On Sept 24, The Sunday Times had a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the sterile laboratory where SFA conducts tests to ensure that mooncakes for sale are free from pathogens that can cause people to be sick.

At the SFA National Centre for Food Science laboratory in Jurong East, food scientists in white lab coats first unpacked food samples and prepared them for testing.

The samples were obtained by SFA during its routine checks on food businesses that make mooncakes for sale.

During these checks, SFA officers inspect the food production facilities, such as the condition and cleanliness of the equipment. They also check expiry dates of food products and conduct visual inspections on whether the facility is clean and free of pests like cockroaches.

From Aug 18 to Sept 5, SFA inspected about 20 local mooncake manufacturers, which is about half of the manufacturers here. The agency also tests for potential contaminants in imported mooncakes.

SFA said on its website that given the wide variety of ingredients used in traditional and snowskin mooncakes, hazards such as microbiological pathogens may be introduced if the mooncakes are not manufactured or stored properly.

The importance of food safety has come to the fore following recent mass food poisoning incidents. In July 2024, for example, some 171 people at ByteDance were affected with food poisoning after consuming lunches prepared by catering company Yunhaiyao.