Workers at the Hà Nội Confectionary Joint Stock Company strictly follow food safety standards while producing mooncakes. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Food Safety Department under the Ministry of Health has called for the health departments of provinces and centrally-run cities to strengthen food safety during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 10 this year.

The agency requests these health departments work with the departments of industry and trade, agriculture and rural development to carry out food safety inspections, to ensure that business facilities company with laws on food manufacturing and processing.

The move aims to promptly prevent and recall fake, low-quality products or those of unknown origin from being sold.

Border provinces and cities need to have plans for unexpected inspections to prevent and handle violation cases.

The Food Safety Department also asked directors of the health departments to prepare plans, forces, vehicles and supplies, to be ready to give first aid and treatment to patients when food poisoning occurs.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a time when violations in smuggling, food safety and hygiene increase.

In recent days, market management forces across the country detected many cases of trading smuggled and poor-quality products.

In Hà Nội, market management forces discovered more than 4,700 mooncakes of all kinds without legal invoices and documents in Nghĩa Đô Ward, Cầu Giấy District.

The force in the Hoài Đức District also found 10,800 mooncakes with labels in a foreign language at a store in La Phù Commune. The store owner failed to show any legal documents for his products.

At a mooncake shop in Cầu Giấy District's Trung Hòa Ward, the authorities seized 4,000 mooncakes of unknown origin. The shop owner said the wholesale prices of these cakes were only VNĐ2,300 (US$0.09) each and their retail price was VNĐ4,000-5,000 ($0.17-0.21).

In Bắc Ninh, Hà Nam, Lạng Sơn, Bắc Giang, Lào Cai and Tiền Giang provinces, the market management forces also discovered and seized many mooncakes of all kinds without clear origin and fined many stores. — VNS