Can mooncakes get "sick"? Remember to take care of your mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival →

I am the mooncake. It is time to meet you all once a year. It is indeed a bit too little to meet you once a year. If I buy more, I always buy too much. What should I do if I can't finish it? I can't help but think of the media reports that mooncakes will not go bad for ten years. Do you think I will go bad? In what situations will I "get sick"?

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01Mooncakes are also “sick”?

You must have heard nutritionists say that my body contains a lot of fat and sugar. These substances will deteriorate for various reasons if stored for a long time, causing me to get sick. The following are some of the "illnesses" I often get...

◐Ha Defeat

It smells like the oil has gone bad. In fact, the oil in the mooncakes undergoes a series of chemical reactions under the conditions of light and water, generating compounds such as peroxides and free radicals, which produce the rancid smell. These substances are harmful to the human body and should not be eaten.

Mooncakes are rich in fat (Image source: screenshot from Xiaohongshu)

◐Mold

Mooncakes are rich in nutrients. Under the right conditions of moisture and temperature, mold will grow and multiply, causing the mooncakes to mold. Needless to say, food with mold should not be eaten, as it may cause food poisoning and health problems.

Moldy mooncakes (Image source: screenshot from Xiaohongshu)

◐ Bacteria

If mooncakes are stored for too long, the nutrients in them will easily breed bacteria. Damp mooncakes are more likely to breed bacteria. E. coli is a common type of bacteria. Once these bacteria enter the human body, they will harm the human stomach and intestines, cause infection, and lead to abdominal pain, diarrhea and other diseases.

◐Hard

Mooncakes stored in a dry place will become drier as time goes by. The soft and delicious starch will change and become hard, and it takes a lot of effort to bite it. If you want to chew it carefully, your teeth will ache. If you don't chew it carefully and "eat it with relish", such hard and large particles of food will affect gastrointestinal motility, leading to diseases such as indigestion and stomach pain.

Netizens shared that their mooncakes became so hard that even a hammer could not break them (Image source: Screenshot of a Douyin video)

◐Flavor

If mooncakes that are not individually packaged are placed together with other foods, especially those with strong odors (such as peppercorns) and other seasonings, the odors will easily mix and make it more difficult to swallow.

Mooncakes and strong-smelling foods are put together, and the smell is very "depressing" (Image source: AI generated by the author)

◐ Become sour or bitter

If mooncakes are stored for too long, the nutrients inside will decompose, producing various sulfides, nitrogen oxides, methane and ethanol, etc. The pH value will also drop, and they will smell like wine (don't think it's the aroma of wine), and taste sour or bitter. These substances can cause damage to the respiratory tract and other parts of the human body, so it is not recommended to eat such mooncakes.

02 The cause of mooncake disease revealed

It seems that not only humans, but also mooncakes need to "maintain their bodies"! How to maintain them? First, we need to understand why I get these "diseases"?

oxygen

In the absence of oxygen, mold stops growing, and the fat in the mooncake's "body" is difficult to oxidize and become rancid. In an aerobic environment, the mooncake's ingredients react with oxygen to oxidize, causing rancidity and mold to grow easily.

temperature

Below 10℃, mold grows very slowly; above 93℃, mold will be killed; and between 25-30℃ is the most suitable for mold growth, which is also the ambient temperature around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Rising temperature will also accelerate mold decay.

Moisture

During the baking process, the surface of the mooncakes has very little moisture, which can reduce the growth of bacteria and mold. If stored for too long, the mooncakes will gradually become hard. However, the "body" of the mooncakes will contain different proportions of active water, which is the moisture that can feed bacteria.

03 Mooncake "Maintenance" Guide

If you want to eat mooncakes healthily, you need to consider temperature, oxygen, moisture, storage time and other aspects:

( 1 ) It is recommended that you store mooncakes in a cool, dry and ventilated place away from light ;

(2) It is recommended that mooncakes should not be stored for too long and should be eaten before the expiration of the packaging.

( 3 ) If the mooncakes you buy are individually packaged, it is best not to open the packaging for storage. If they have already been opened, it is best to put them in a fresh-keeping bag that has been air-expelled and sealed for storage.

04 A new way to eat mooncakes: No! Suggest! Advice!

In recent years, many families have been thinking of new ways to eat mooncakes when they have too many to eat during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Some people use mooncakes to cook porridge, some use them to make soup or stir-fry, and some use them to mix into salads.

Netizens made their own dark dish "Mooncake Soup" (Photo source: Screenshot of Douyin video)

However, mooncakes are born to be eaten immediately, they taste better and can better reflect the cultural connotation of mooncakes. However, mooncakes are "three high foods" with high sugar, high oil and high calories. Moderate consumption is fine. Excessive consumption can lead to health risks such as obesity, high blood lipids and high blood sugar.

[Warm Tips] Any substance that enters the body through the mouth needs to be ingested in sufficient quantity to cause harm to the human body. As the saying goes: talking about toxicity without considering the dosage is just a hooligan. Therefore, you don’t have to worry too much about accidentally eating a little bit of mooncakes that are improperly stored or have exceeded the shelf life. The specific situation varies from person to person. If you do feel unwell, it is recommended to seek medical attention in time.

Do you have any good ideas for dealing with leftover mooncakes ? Share them in the comments section ~

Author: Member of the China Science Writers Association

Reviewer: Wang Guoyi, Associate Professor of Quality Management Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Postdoctoral Fellow in Nutrition and Food Safety, China Agricultural University

Produced by: Science Popularization China

References :

【1】GB/T 19855-2023 "General Rules for Mooncake Quality"

【2】Liu Dongqing, Chen Pu, Zang Peng, et al. Study on the variation law of mooncake quality indicators and establishment of shelf life prediction model[J]. Food Science, 2022.

【3】Zhong Shaowen, Ye Shengquan, Liang Tianjiao, Yan Dadi. Study on the quality changes of Cantonese mooncakes during storage[J]. Journal of Food Safety and Quality, 2014.

[4] Yang Liuqing, Zheng Runmin, Wang Chuyan, Li Kexin, Wang Jun, Yin Xiawei, Cao Jiangwei. Effects of different packaging methods on the storage quality of blueberry mooncakes[J]. Freshness and Processing, 2021.

【5】He Zhiping, Pang Linjiang, Tu Bingxin, Chen Yingjian, Xiong Zhiyan. Effect of packaging methods on the quality characteristics of vegetarian mooncakes[J]. Food Industry Science and Technology, 2010.