Hong Kong consumers warned to stay away from mooncakes with high sugar, fat or sodium content
Centre for Food Safety says it is particularly concerned about mooncakes with excessive levels of sweetener
Consumers have been warned to exercise caution when buying mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival and to choose those with low levels of sugar, fat and sodium.
So-called ice-skin or snowy mooncakes contained the highest levels of sugar compared with other varieties, the study found.
The highest amount was found in a 60-gram snowy brand with a lemonade flavour. The sweetener took up42.7 grams per 100-gram serving – equivalent to eight sugar cubes, or half an adult’s recommended daily sugar intake.
The second-highest sugar level was found in a traditional mooncake containing 37.6 grams per 100 grams, followed by a Chinese ham mooncake (35.8 grams) and custard one (24.9 grams).
To offset the energy intake in one custard-flavoured mooncake, consumers would have to swim freestyle for 50 minutes or cycle for 40 minutes, according to the centre’s principal medical officer Dr Samuel Yeung Tze-kiu.