The packing of mooncakes in Shanghai uses up 400 to 600 trees every year, almost equal to the timber in a sizeable park, according to the Jiefang Daily.

Huang Zhen, chief of the Code Department of the Shanghai Environment Protection Bureau, said with annual production of mooncakes in Shanghai reaching 10 million packages, ornate and luxurious packing is causing a huge amount of wood wastage.

The authorities issued a reminder to consumers to treat packaging carefully and rationally and told producers to limit the amount of packaging.

A delegate from the Shanghai Quality Supervision Bureau, speaking at a seminar on "Dealing with mooncake consumption rationally" said the city was making progress in mapping out a production standard for the mooncake industry, including the setting out of regulations covering production date and shelf life.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 15, eating mooncakes is a tradition going back thousands of years. Families gather together at the table and celebrate the day, hoping for harmony and happiness, which is expressed by the mooncakes and the full moon.

But statistics from the China Social Research Institute indicate that consumers are less willing to buy mooncakes this year, 20 per cent down compared with the same period last year, according to the China News Agency.

The main reason for the decrease is the Guanshengyuan event in Nanjing last year. The Guanshengyuan Food Company's mooncakes were found to contain stale fillings and this has put off many consumers from buying mooncakes this year.

Consumers are warned to be cautious when choosing mooncakes for food containing medicine is forbidden by the Food Sanitation Law. So, adding ginseng into moon cakes to promote people's health is absurd and illegal.

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