Learn Chinese - Over the moon

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Over the moon
By LIU JIE (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-24 07:16

Picture an evening devoted to staring up at the sky, soaking in the
silver light from the full moon while nibbling mooncakes and sipping tea
- a warm and cozy scene from the traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

Mooncakes, which represent reunion and happiness, have been upgraded this
year, with better quality, diversified flavors and a simplified package.

Quality security

About 99.5 percent of mooncakes in China are up to scratch, the highest
level since the country began carrying out inspections in 1999.

The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15 on the lunar calendar
will fall on September 25 this year. Mooncakes are a special snack
Chinese people eat at the family-reunion feast.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine (AQSIQ) said on September 4 that it has checked a total 425
types of mooncake made by 378 firms in 29 Chinese provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities.

"The inspection coverage this year is the largest ever, with the 29
provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and companies
inspected," says Liu Deping, a spokesperson for China's top quality
watchdog.

The checkups also found product quality of middle and large-sized
manufactures are stable and reliable. All mooncakes made by 63 such
companies meet the national standard. The 63 investigated, including
seven Chinese time-honored brands, produce around 80 percent of China's
mooncakes.

Luo Yunbo, director of the Food Science and Nutrition Engineering
Institute of China Agricultural University, attributes the quality
improvement to enhanced administrative supervision, increased food safety
awareness, optimized market environment on product quality security, as
well as technological upgrading.

"Because the mooncake is a traditional Chinese food with a long history,
some traditional additives and food-making techniques were still used in
previous years, which cannot meet modern standards," Luo says.

"So far, producers have adopted an industrialized manufacturing model, so
the quality can be guaranteed if they strictly keep in line with
requirements on raw materials and manufacturing flows."

In addition to central government efforts, local authorities play an
active role in mooncake quality security.

In Shanghai, local families can track mooncakes' IDs since the municipal
government requires the 228 mooncake-makers in the metropolis to join an
"electronic monitoring network" which labels each cake with a unique
digital code.

AQSIQ is now busy promoting a compulsory food security certification and
food company license system nationwide, which requires food producers to
get licenses and finish professional products inspection to get QS
(quality safety) certificates by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, the local
administration says all mooncake producers must get licenses by September
and mooncakes without the QS logo should not be on the market during the
festival.

Traditional mooncake, often stodgy, with sweet and cholesterol-laden
fillings, is currently undergoing a calorie makeover to suit
health-conscious consumers. Meanwhile, flavors have been diversified to
meet different tastes.

Some producers use sugar substitutes as a binding agent for the
lotus-bean paste instead of white sugar, which reduces calories and makes
the pastries suitable for diabetics.

Besides cutting down on sugar, mooncake-makers have also taken steps to
increase the snacks' nutritional value. For example, organic fruit and
nut mooncakes containing rich proteins and vitamins are being promoted
this year. Unbaked mooncakes, which are chilled and filled with yoghurt
and berries, have also been welcomed by consumers.

Meanwhile, the fillings have expanded from traditional egg yolk, bean
paste and ice sugar to salmon, bacon, roast duck and chocolate. Cafes and
bakeries, like Starbucks and Holiland, have also added popular
Western-influenced flavors.

Deng Qingmin, a 51-year-old Beijinger, admits that he has never imagined
mooncakes could be so diverse. "I still prefer to the traditional ones,
but many young guys like to try fresh tastes," Deng says.

Simplified package

Mooncake producers are encouraged to revive the spirit of the traditional
Mid-Autumn Festival by packaging their products in simple,
environment-friendly recycled paper.

In the past decade, mooncakes have been packaged in expensive and
elaborate boxes made of wood, silk or even gold. In the last two years,
authorities have discouraged extravagance and waste.

In Beijing, more than 40 stores have joined a municipal government
campaign to sell mooncakes in simple packaging this year.

Mooncakes will be wrapped in recycled paper and packaged in paper
containers, according to Liu Jian, a marketing official with Beijing
Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

"Customers can still buy mooncakes wrapped in expensive packages as
gifts. We don't expect they'll want to change that right away. The
recycled paper was introduced to promote the notion of environmental
protection among consumers," Liu says.

Holiland spokesperson Li Xiaojun says that the bakery chain provided an
initial 5,000 boxes of mooncakes wrapped in recycled paper, together with
two other producers, on September 1, when the campaign officially
launched in the capital.

The simple-packaged mooncakes are sold for 90 to 180 yuan per box,
depending on the quantity and quality, 10 percent less than normal
Beijing prices.

Liu hopes the packaging drive will help spread the concepts of frugality,
rationality and health. "Luxurious packages not only distort the meaning
of mooncakes, but are unnecessarily wasteful."

(China Daily 09/24/2007 page2)

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