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before the mid-autumn festival this year has even ended, the mooncake market has already experienced “triple storms”.

the first wave of turmoil began a few days ago when reports said mooncake sales were sluggish this year, causing many mooncake oem factories to close early.

immediately afterwards, the news of "a well-known hong kong brand" of mooncakes being counterfeited was exposed recently, claiming that this brand of mooncakes is simply not available for purchase in hong kong.

the most eye-catching event was the third incident, in which the addition of sodium dehydroacetate to mooncakes suddenly became a hot topic. compared with the first two incidents, this wave was the real highlight of the mooncake market during the mid-autumn festival this year.

what is sodium dehydroacetate?

in fact, it is a very common preservative in my country's pasta products and can be called "one of the most widely used additives" in this field.

sodium dehydroacetate, as a highly effective preservative, is mainly effective in inhibiting the growth of yeast and mold, thereby ensuring that pasta products can remain "fresh, moist, and antiseptic and anti-mold" for a long time. this preservative sounds very effective, and in fact, it does perform well in terms of preservation.

this is a "traditional" preservative with a long history and one of the main preservatives commonly used in mooncakes. of course, its application is not limited to mooncakes, but may also appear in a variety of foods such as bread and bean paste cakes.

experimental data confirms the remarkable effect of sodium dehydroacetate in mooncakes: when the amount of sodium dehydroacetate added to mooncakes reaches 0.5 grams per kilogram, the shelf life of mooncakes can be as long as 53 days at a constant temperature of 25°c. this data fully demonstrates its excellent antiseptic properties.

sodium dehydroacetate, a widespread and long-standing preservative, has again attracted attention this year.

after discovering that mooncakes contain sodium dehydroacetate as a preservative, many netizens expressed their dissatisfaction. they believe that no preservatives should be added to mooncakes, especially sodium dehydroacetate.

for other preservatives in other foods, we may be able to provide some explanation from a scientific perspective, because in the current era of commercialization, many foods do need to be preserved to extend their shelf life.

however, adding sodium diacetate to mooncakes seems particularly outdated and should have been banned or phased out long ago. why?

from an international perspective, many developed countries have already banned sodium diacetate as a preservative. in contrast, my country still continues to use it, which undoubtedly poses a huge challenge to the export of mooncakes.

from the perspective of the expansion of the mooncake market, sodium dehydroacetate has posed a great obstacle to the international development of the mooncake market.

secondly, although sodium dehydroacetate is classified as a low-toxic preservative, it may still cause great harm to human health if consumed in excess or for a long time, especially for pasta foods such as bread, which many young people now regard as part of their main meals.

people may be able to accept the small amount of preservatives in snacks, after all, they are not consumed frequently on a daily basis. however, for food that is consumed every day, even "low-toxic" preservatives are difficult to make people feel at ease in the long run.

this is probably an important reason why foreign countries are eager to ban this preservative.

this year's mid-autumn festival may be the curtain call for "preservative mooncakes"

although many consumers have expressed dissatisfaction with mooncakes containing the preservative "sodium dehydroacetate" this year, before that, we should say goodbye to this mooncake.

because this year will be the last mid-autumn festival when “preservative mooncakes” will be on the market.

according to the national food safety standard for the use of food additives (gb 2760-2014) currently implemented in my country, the maximum allowable amount of dehydroacetic acid and its sodium salt in mooncakes is 0.5 g/kg. this means that as long as the content of sodium dehydroacetate in mooncakes does not exceed this standard, they are compliant products. you can choose to avoid eating such mooncakes, but you cannot stop mooncake manufacturers from producing them.

however, starting next year, this will change.

my country's newly promulgated "national food safety standard food additives use standard" (gb 2760-2024) will officially come into effect on february 8 next year.

in this new standard, sodium dehydroacetate preservatives have been completely eliminated, which means that not only mooncakes cannot be added with this preservative, but also starch products such as bread and cakes are also prohibited from using it.

therefore, if there are still mooncakes containing sodium dehydroacetate on the market during the mid-autumn festival next year, it will be considered as illegal addition, and the relevant manufacturers and merchants will be required to bear the corresponding legal responsibilities. this change undoubtedly marks a major step forward for the mooncake processing industry.

jokingly speaking, the mooncakes you taste during next year's mid-autumn festival may be different from this year's because they will lack the taste of the sodium dihydroacetate "preservative".

will there be no more mooncakes containing preservatives in the future?

sodium dehydroacetate, a preservative widely favored by domestic starch product manufacturers for its affordable price and significant effect, is also the most common additive in mooncakes. however, with its comprehensive ban next year, mooncakes sold on the market should no longer contain sodium dehydroacetate under normal circumstances.

this means that the mooncakes with preservatives that once flooded the market may completely disappear and become history.

of course, there are other preservatives besides sodium dehydroacetate, such as the well-known potassium sorbate, which is also widely used in many foods, including many beverages.

as to whether potassium sorbate will be the main preservative added to mooncakes next year, it is still uncertain.

of course, we are not blindly against the use of "preservatives". in this era of commercialization, it is unrealistic to completely abandon preservatives. as long as the amount of preservatives used is within a safe and compliant range, it is acceptable.

however, for the specific food of mooncakes, we firmly hope that the use of preservatives can be completely banned.

the reason is that, first of all, mid-autumn mooncakes are a traditional food for the mid-autumn festival. they should be presented in freshly baked, short shelf life or refrigerated forms. such mooncakes are more in line with the festive atmosphere and the essence of food.

so, is it necessary to extend the shelf life of mooncakes to that long? in fact, some people may receive too many mooncakes and fail to consume them in time, while some people may not eat mid-autumn mooncakes very often, resulting in mooncakes being stored for a long time. this consumption concept should not be advocated.

festival food should return to its essence, and mooncakes should be like fruits and vegetables, pursuing freshness is the right way.

the current mooncake market seems to be falling into a vicious circle step by step, causing the original strong festive atmosphere of mooncakes to gradually fade.

the tradition of eating mooncakes during the mid-autumn festival has gradually turned into a phenomenon of "stocking up on mooncakes during the mid-autumn festival". although mooncakes with added preservatives will not spoil, the festival culture represented by mooncakes seems to be gradually losing its essence.

secondly, extending the shelf life of mooncakes to such a long time always makes people have some unpleasant associations, such as wondering if this year's mooncakes are not sold out and are planned to be sold again during the mid-autumn festival next year. of course, this is just an unfounded speculation, but mooncakes with a long shelf life do easily make people have such doubts.

instead of doing this, it would be better to launch more mooncakes with a short shelf life. after all, after the mid-autumn festival, unsold mooncakes often end up as garbage. in this case, is it necessary to extend the shelf life of mooncakes to such a long time? is it really necessary to add preservatives? isn't this a superfluous move?

furthermore, mooncakes are not cheap snacks. in recent years, the price of mooncakes has continued to rise, and a box of mooncakes costing two to three hundred yuan has become the norm. however, the raw materials of mooncakes are actually mostly not luxury ingredients, and this price should be more "green" and healthy.

for other foods, not using preservatives may lead to increased loss costs and a significant increase in prices. however, mooncakes do not have this problem because their loss costs are high and their prices are already relatively expensive.

mid-autumn festival mooncakes are obviously a food that is sold for a short time and enjoyed during the festival. adding preservatives to them seems superfluous and unnecessary both logically and emotionally.

therefore, people may understand adding preservatives to other foods, but adding preservatives to mooncakes is hard to accept both logically and emotionally.