The Shorter The Shelf-Life Of The Moon Cake Concerns &Nbsp; Experts Say The Shelf Life Is Not Related To Quality.

Conventional mid-autumn festival Approaching, all kinds of moon cakes packed beautifully. A superb collection of beautiful things It's full of supermarket shelves. Many people have noticed that the production date, shelf life, ingredients list, processing technology, production license number and other basic information of this year's moon cake are mostly printed on the outer packing boxes of moon cakes. The past 120 days' shelf life has been shortened this year. Does this affect the quality of moon cakes? Reporters conducted an investigation and interview. 　　

From 30 days to 120 days.

Moon cake shelf life is like "fog".

Reporters in Beijing, Nanjing and other places supermarkets and shopping malls learned that this year's moon cakes are rich in variety. Variety The shelf life is also varied. Different brands of moon cakes have different shelf-life, and even different types of moon cakes of the same brand have different shelf-life. The "old shopkeeper" produced by Beijing Rice Village Moon Cake The shelf life is 2 months; the Quanjude moon cake produced in Quanjude, Beijing has a shelf life of 120 days. Reporters found in Nanjing suxianlu Suguo supermarket, also known as "black sesame moon cake", shelf-life has 45 days, 50 days, 60 days, 70 days, 90 days and so on different types. Even the same brand of moon cake with the same flavor has different shelf-life. For example, Shanghai's "Mongolian Department" wide black sesame moon cake has a shelf life of 60 days, while the Soviet style black sesame moon cake is 45 days. 　　

There are many different kinds of moon cakes and many consumers are confused. Mr. Liu, who lives in Ya Dong Cheng District of Qixia District, Nanjing, told reporters: "the difference in shelf life is so great, is it related to the number of preservatives in the Riga of moon cakes?" Ms. Zhang, who is shopping for moon cakes in the supermarket, said, "I don't know whether the shelf life is good or short. The longer shelf life is concerned about the more preservatives, and the shorter the time is." 　　

Supermarket shopping guide, said: "moon cakes must be safe, you can rest assured. In terms of shelf life, there is no uniform standard in the market. We will surely protect you if we sell. " 　　

The warranty period is not uniform.

According to the production process, the enterprise decides itself.

As for the determination of the shelf-life and its standards, the reporters were sent to the State Administration for Industry and commerce, the General Administration of quality supervision and quarantine, and the heads of relevant departments of the food and drug administration. It is understood that the warranty period of the moon cake is set by the enterprise, and there is no uniform warranty period for the whole country. Due to the different proportions of different moon cakes, there are also differences in the production and processing technology. The sealing and sterilization conditions of packages are different, and the shelf life is different. 　　

"Shelf life is not directly related to the quality of moon cakes." Fan Zhihong, an associate professor of food nutrition and safety at China Agricultural University School of food science and Nutritional Engineering, told reporters that the key is to finish eating within the prescribed shelf life and not to put it too long. "If the amount of sugar and salt in the ingredients of the moon cake is large, the moisture content and the oil content are high, and the shelf life will be longer. This is not related to the usage of preservatives."

Some production enterprises interviewed by reporters pointed out that moon cakes are seasonal foods and are eaten only during mid autumn festival of specific festivals. This enterprise is very clear, will not add more preservatives in order to extend the shelf life. "How many preservatives are used will not have a direct impact on the profits of enterprises. As long as the Mid Autumn Festival is over, there will be no market for seasonal cakes, and the longer shelf life will be useless." Many self-made moon cakes restaurant executives said.

Longer shelf life does not mean more preservatives.

It is also related to processing technology and fillings.

Does the long shelf life moon cake contain much preservatives? The reporter consulted the food department of Nanjing quality and Technical Supervision Bureau. The staff said that the shelf life and processing technology, storage conditions, fillings and other varieties have a certain relationship, and preservative additives also have certain links, but it can not be said that the shelf life is long, preservatives will add more. There will be some additives in moon cakes, including preservatives, but no matter what additives, there are strict national standards. The moon cake enterprises should implement this standard.

The staff believed that the new standard of food additives used in June this year had more stringent restrictions on food additives, and that the additives in the moon cakes were also reduced accordingly, resulting in the biggest impact on the moon cakes, such as bean paste and lotus root, and the shelf life was shortened. The staff told reporters that many companies are waiting for the moon cake cooling after packaging, but some enterprises have broken through this technical problem, cooling to a certain temperature can be packaged, fewer bacteria in the box, naturally more difficult to moldy. Experts said that the new revision of food additives standards can well regulate the use of additives, so that this year's moon cake is more healthy. {page_break}

Increased number of mooncakes made in restaurants

Supervision departments strengthen sampling inspection

Mr. Liu, chairman of a food company in Nanjing, is a large household who produces moon cakes every year in Nanjing, and also an expert in baking industry. He said that the current determination of the general purpose of the moon cake is 2 months, and most of the unified "stipulate" the production of moon cakes at different times all expired in September 30th, "this is afraid that time is long, consumers will find trouble in the future, the time mark is short and can not be sold, so it has become a convention" Convention ". Liu said that food preservatives can play a role in prolonging the shelf life of food, but the state has strict regulations on this. "Moreover, even if food preservatives are used, they will not guarantee that food will not deteriorate."

Then, can the moon cakes sold in the market guarantee the quality of life? The reporter learned from the Beijing Bureau of industry and commerce that, before the Mid Autumn Festival, the sampling results of the quality and safety situation of the moon cakes in the Beijing festival market by the Beijing industrial and Commercial Bureau showed that 101 samples of moon cake samples were collected from large shopping malls, chain supermarkets and exclusive stores. According to the relevant provisions of the national mandatory standards, sorbic acid, benzoic acid, sodium cyclamate, saccharin sodium, total bacteria, pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus), coliform bacteria, mould count, acid value, peroxide value, dehydro acetic acid, sulfur dioxide and aluminum potassium sulfate were tested. No quality and safety problems were found in the samples sampled.

"The number of homemade mooncakes in the name of a restaurant is more and more." Aunt Li, who lives near the red scarf bridge in Chaoyang District, Beijing, has received two boxes of moon cakes from relatives in Guangdong Province this year. "The production level of the restaurant must not be more than the formal large cake production enterprise, can they make the moon cake can rest assured?" With Aunt Li's question, the reporter interviewed the director of the food safety supervision department of the State Food and Drug Administration and learned that many of the moon cakes sold by restaurant brands were commissioned by pastry manufacturers. But whether commissioned or manufactured, the State Food and drug administration has increased supervision and inspection efforts this year to ensure the quality and safety of the moon cakes sold by restaurants.

Nanjing city quality and Technical Supervision Bureau food office staff also told reporters that the regulatory authorities will close at the end of the expiration date of some products for random inspection. The staff also emphasized that the determination of shelf-life belongs to the enterprise's self commitment. Once the product quality problem is committed during the warranty period, the enterprise must bear the responsibility.

There are rules for sending moon cakes overseas.

Many countries have very strict supervision on food imported by mail, especially moon cakes, which contain fillings. The relevant departments remind that mailing moon cakes should understand the relevant regulations beforehand, so as not to cause losses.

It is understood that the overseas delivery of moon cakes has the following basic requirements: first, the delivery of moon cakes to overseas must be declared dry goods; second, it is necessary to provide certificates of origin for exceeding the required quantity; third, most of the invoices need the ingredients of the moon cakes stuffing; fourth, they must be packaged well, not corruptible, and must indicate the manufacturer's information and validity period; fifth, the sender must notify the addressee in advance, so that the recipient has enough time to prepare the entry hygiene documents; sixth, the Chinese customs, inspection and quarantine departments will include moon cakes in the restricted export products. In batch delivery of moon cakes, the certificate of origin and food hygiene registration certificate issued by the inspection and quarantine department shall be provided.

In addition to the basic requirements, some countries and regions have some special provisions for the import of moon cakes. For example, the moon cakes stuffed to the United States, Canada and Australia can not contain ingredients of yolk. The United States also requires the sender to register and declare in advance with the food and Drug Administration of the United States, and to send moon cakes after obtaining hygienic certificates; to send the moon cakes to the United Kingdom and Japan only by air transportation; South Korea and New Zealand require the weight of the moon cakes to be less than 5 kilograms. Some countries and regions in the world have totally banned the import of moon cakes, including India, Indonesia, Spain, Germany, France, Brazil, Qatar, Hungary, Belgium, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Sweden, Columbia, Burma, Mexico and so on. Therefore, before sending the moon cakes, we need to know more about the relevant state regulations and pay attention to the expiration date and the delivery time of the moon cakes.