Mid-autumn festival would not be complete without a moon cake-related scandal such as the one in which 8,000 boxes of fake moon cakes were found in Guangzhou in 2011.

Today, it was reported that unsafe amounts of plasticiser were discovered in eight brands of moon cakes in Guangzhou.

Shanghaiist has more:

The plasticizer is found in the PVC used to make the cake wrap, and can emit harmful chemicals if the moon cakes are too hot when packaged. If ingested, these chemicals can allegedly decrease sperm count in men, but also, ironically enough, accelerate sexual maturity in kids (who knew all Benjamin Button needed to do to fix his problem was stop eating Guangzhou moon cakes).

Excessive amounts of the same plasticiser have in the past been found in instant noodles, soy sauce, baijiu, bubble tea and more.

In spite of the safety scandals that seem to emerge every year, there is growing demand in overseas markets for Guangdong moon cakes.

China Daily reported last week that twenty-eight mooncake exporters in Guangdong have shipped 970 batches, an annual rise of 30 percent. This accounted for 1,484 tons of mooncakes, a 15 percent year-on-year rise.

Guangdong mooncakes account for nearly 80 percent of national mooncake exports this year, in spite of a decline in domestic demand.