Hanoi: Tighten food safety management during Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival 2025 is almost a month away. Currently, on the streets of the capital, many shops and stalls have appeared selling moon cakes from many brands and manufacturers.

To preserve the quintessence of traditional cake culture and at the same time ensure the health safety of consumers, this year, Hanoi city has implemented early and provided detailed instructions on food safety inspections before moon cake production facilities enter the peak period.

Deploy early, prevent violations

As early as August 12, the Hanoi People's Committee issued Plan No. 234/KH-UBND on ensuring food safety during the Mid-Autumn Festival in the area.

The plan will be implemented from August 15 to October 10 in 126 communes and wards to inspect and evaluate compliance with food safety laws of food production and trading establishments for the Mid-Autumn Festival; promptly detect, prevent and handle violations, protect people's health; and at the same time evaluate the direction and enhance the responsibility of all levels and sectors in food safety management.

Inspection activities focus on strengthening propaganda and education to raise awareness and practices for food producers, traders and consumers during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Propaganda content for target groups such as: food production facilities, especially moon cake and confectionery production facilities and consumers about hygiene conditions, origin of raw materials, labeling, cake preservation, warnings about moldy and expired cakes...

In the plan, the Hanoi Department of Health is the standing agency of the City's Food Safety Steering Committee, taking the lead in developing and implementing a plan to ensure food safety during the 2025 Mid-Autumn Festival. Accordingly, the Hanoi Department of Food Safety and Hygiene has established two teams to conduct surprise inspections of restaurants and hotels, focusing on establishments that produce and trade products for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Producing moon cakes. (Photo: Vu Sinh/VNA)

Specifically, Head of the Hanoi Food Safety and Hygiene Department Dang Thanh Phong was the Head of the inspection team for food safety in the production of moon cakes at two 5-star hotels, Sheraton Hanoi and Pan Pacific Hanoi, in early September 2025.

The inspection team noted that all units had clear contracts and raw material invoices. Producers were trained in food safety knowledge and storage conditions met standards.

The inspection team directly inspected the production, processing and packaging processes; gave comments and guided the hotel to update new contents in the regulations on food safety management, adjust the process and product declaration content, and meet the requirements on food safety and hygiene in the new situation.

Executive Chef, Culinary Director of Sheraton Hanoi Hotel Nguyen Cong Chung said that the hotel produces moon cakes mainly to serve pre-ordered guests and as corporate gifts. Every step strictly follows food hygiene and safety procedures. Because for the hotel, each cake is not only a product but also a reputation and brand.

According to the Head of the Hanoi Food Safety and Hygiene Department, Dang Thanh Phong, there are currently about 20 5-star hotels in the city that produce and trade moon cakes. Early implementation of inspections will help guide establishments to comply with regulations through practice, avoiding unfortunate violations when mass production has occurred. Therefore, the main goal of the inspection is not only to handle violations, but also to accompany units in improving product quality and protecting consumers.

Buy safe moon cakes from reputable establishments

For many years now, every Mid-Autumn Festival, authorities have discovered many cases related to moon cakes of unknown origin, smuggled or produced in unsanitary conditions.

Unusually cheap cakes, with sketchy packaging and even no labels, are still sold openly, sneaking into the market, in flea markets and temporary markets.

Authorities seized thousands of foreign-made moon cakes without invoices or documents. (Photo: Tran Viet/VNA)

This reality is a strong warning for consumers to raise awareness, only choose products with clear origin, ensuring safety for the health of themselves and their families.

Therefore, when choosing to buy moon cakes, consumers should prioritize the criteria of "clear origin" such as products with full labels, clearly stating the manufacturer's name, address, expiration date and ingredients.

Consumers should choose to buy at reputable stores, supermarkets, and genuine stalls; avoid buying at floating points of sale, without invoices or documents. In addition, consumers should carefully observe the packaging to make sure the product is intact, not faded, distorted or showing signs of aging or damage.

Choosing cakes with clear origins not only helps each family celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival safely and completely, but also contributes to building civilized and responsible consumption habits.

Head of the Hanoi Food Safety and Hygiene Department Dang Thanh Phong noted: “Moon cakes are traditional products with special characteristics and are seasonal. Therefore, consumers should buy cakes from establishments with reputable brands, fixed locations, full labels, and clear expiration dates. For cake production establishments, we require special attention to input materials, ensuring clear origin and provenance, with contracts and sales invoices. Those involved in production must be trained in food safety knowledge.”

Implementing the city's plan, communes and wards have been inspecting and supervising traditional confectionery production facilities in the locality. According to the plan, the food safety inspection for the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2025 in Hanoi will last until October 10; the results will be reported to the City People's Committee before October 13.

“Food safety incidents involving moon cakes often occur at small-scale production facilities. Therefore, along with the activities of two inspection teams from the City Food Safety and Hygiene Department, the participation of relevant departments and agencies, especially the commune and ward authorities, is needed. Absolutely do not allow products that do not ensure food safety to circulate on the market,” Mr. Dang Thanh Phong shared.

Hanoi has been implementing many measures to ensure a safe and joyful Mid-Autumn Festival for its people. Authorities have stepped up inspections and strictly handled establishments producing and trading moon cakes of unknown origin and poor quality. The city has stepped up propaganda to raise awareness and help consumers know how to choose safe products./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/ha-noi-siet-chat-quan-ly-an-toan-thuc-pham-dip-tet-trung-thu-post1061441.vnp