Unlicensed mooncake factories exposed for prioritising profit over food safety

With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, a look back on recent years shows that anti-China and destabilizing individuals have continually played on the emotions of their associates in the “black-clad violence”, seizing the opportunity to sell mooncakes and rake in profits. This year, some have already begun calling on their associates to support them by buying mooncakes. These destabilizing individuals, however, have previously sold moldy and substandard mooncakes, placing profits ahead of food safety. Some have operated unlicensed establishments for mooncake production, ultimately being raided and prosecuted by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD).

According to insiders, these individuals with illicit motives purchased low-priced, substandard mooncakes, with unknown ingredients, through unverified channels. These mooncakes contain cheap preservatives and chemicals, the levels of which may exceed regulatory standards and even contain carcinogenic substances.

Since they are not refrigerated during transport, the mooncakes spoil very easily, potentially causing food poisoning.

When shopping for mooncakes, it is crucial for consumers to select retailers that guarantee safety, quality, and hygiene, and to be wary of purchasing those mooncakes of unknown origin.

Since the 2019 black-clad violence, anti-China and destabilizing individuals have persistently used the sale of mooncakes to promote the so-called “resistance” ideologies, or engage in sympathy mongering by playing up business hardships to entice associates to buy their products, in the name of “supporting their own”.

These dubious mooncakes, however, have time and again been exposed for food safety issues, including questionable sourcing and poor hygiene in production facilities; some have even been seized and prosecuted by the FEHD.

The Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts last Tuesday (Aug 25) held a pretrial review for a case involving the unlicensed production of mooncakes. The trial is set to begin on December 14 of this year. According to case details, the Agape Garden eatery (which had supported the black-clad violence) was raided by the FEHD in August 2024, and had a batch of mooncakes seized for alleged unlicensed production.

Subsequently, Hong Kong Master Network Limited, Agape Garden’s parent company, was charged with one count of carrying on an unlicensed food factory and one count of failure to produce kept records for inspection as required by an authorized officer. J & H Consultant Company Limited, the company holding Agape Garden’s food business license, was also charged with one count of failure to mark or label prepackaged food in the prescribed manner and one count of failure to produce kept records for inspection as required by an authorized officer.

Reportedly, the batch of mooncakes, which included double-yolk white lotus seed paste mooncakes and assorted nuts mooncakes, did not bear expiry dates or the names and addresses of the manufacturer or packer on its packaging. When authorities requested that Agape Garden produce records of importation or production, in accordance with the Food Safety Ordinance, the eatery refused to do so, further raising suspicions about the safety of the mooncakes’ origins.

Cases of shops supportive of the black-clad violence selling mooncakes with unknown origins are nothing new. Sources reveal that some businesses purchase low-priced, substandard mooncakes with questionable ingredients, containing the cheapest preservatives and chemicals, with levels that may even exceed safety standards or contain carcinogenic substances.

Moreover, in their quest to maximise profits, these businesses fail to refrigerate the goods or monitor temperatures during transport. In hot and humid weather, temperatures inside sealed delivery trucks can reach over 40 degrees Celsius, causing the mooncakes to spoil and potentially leading to food poisoning.

Of the anti-China and destabilizing individuals who play upon the emotions of their black-clad associates, the most notable is Derek Chu Kong-wai.

In September 2025, As One, the e-commerce platform owned by Chu, was issued a summons by the FEHD for selling mooncakes that were not properly labeled — specifically, they lacked expiry dates and the names and addresses of the manufacturer and packer. In August 2024, Waiting Bird, an organisation also founded by Chu, was found to have carried out unlicensed packaging of mooncakes in a Kowloon Bay factory building. The facility was closed by the FEHD, and Waiting Bird subsequently suspended its mooncake sales.

As early as August 2022, Chu had been selling large batches of mooncakes to associates through Waiting Bird. When the mooncakes were found to contain mold, Chu claimed that the business was struggling to stay afloat, lacking the staff and resources needed to conduct proper quality inspections, in an attempt to elicit sympathy.

In October 2023, Chu was arrested for allegedly selling Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) products without holding an MPF intermediary license. He was then prosecuted, and the case was brought before a court. Chu, however, remains undeterred, once again selling mooncakes to associates this year through As One.

A source noted that the production of mooncakes involves dairy and egg products, which are highly susceptible to Salmonella and E. coli contamination. Should a food safety issue arise, consequences could be severe. The source urged the public to be on alert for these dubious mooncakes, and to buy from vendors that ensure safety, quality, and hygiene.

Other illicit mooncake cases

In September 2023, the FEHD raided a unit of an industrial building in Fo Tan, which the now-dissolved Democratic Party used for unlicensed mooncake production. Reportedly, the factory’s sanitary conditions were appalling, with ingredients prone to spoilage, such as egg yolks, scattered about haphazardly. At the time, reports indicated that the operators prioritized cost-cutting in both transportation and storage, setting up a makeshift factory in a subdivided unit to produce substandard mooncakes, while selling each box at a high price.

In September 2020, netizens reported that they were unable to pick up mooncakes they had purchased from Lung Mun Cafe, another supporter of the black-clad violence. Other netizens alleged that the cafe was producing mooncakes in an unlicensed facility. Furthermore, a former employee accused the cafe’s manager of hiring associates at low wages, under the pretext of supporting the black-clad violence, only for the manager to ultimately abscond with the money while owing wages to these staff members and failing to pay rent.

In September 2020, it was revealed that Gifvens, a business supporting the black-clad violence, was producing mooncakes in an industrial building in Chai Wan, where clutter was found strewn across the floor, and ingredients such as eggs were stored on shelves without refrigeration. Their equipment was dilapidated, large trash containers and shipping pallets were placed right outside the facility’s entrance, and trash was scattered along the floor, creating highly unsanitary conditions.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓