Results of tests on mooncake and noodlefish samples all satisfactory

Two-hundred mooncake samples collected by the Centre for Food Safety under a Seasonal Food Surveillance Programme tested satisfactorily.

A spokesman for the CFS said that the samples are from 20 brands, covering traditional, snowy, ice-cream and other types of mooncakes. These were collected from various retailers and food factories, he added.

Samples were taken for chemical and microbiological tests. The chemical tests included colouring matters such as Sudan dyes and tartrazine, preservatives such as sulphur dioxide and sorbic acid, antioxidants, pesticides, heavy metals, aflatoxins and mineral oil. The microbiological tests covered total bacterial count, coliform organisms and pathogens such as Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes.

Despite the satisfactory results of all the samples, the spokesman reminded the food trade to purchase food ingredients from reliable suppliers.

"They should adhere to the Good Manufacturing Practice and comply with the legal requirements when using food additives," the spokesman said.

"Snowy and ice-cream mooncakes, which do not undergo a baking process at high temperature, need to be handled hygienically during processing, transportation and storage to avoid contamination and growth of germs," he added.