BreadTalk says mooncake with vegetarian braised meat is suitable for vegetarians, apologises for outdated product cards

BreadTalk previously told netizen that vegetarian mooncake wasn’t suitable for vegans

BreadTalk has responded after netizens pointed out that its Mushroom with Vegetarian Braised Meat mooncake contained pork oil and egg and was thus not suitable for vegetarians.

It clarified that the product was actually suitable for vegetarians and apologised for “outdated product cards”.

BreadTalk initially said vegetarian mooncake was not suitable for vegans

The saga started on Friday (13 Sept) when a netizen asked BreadTalk on its Facebook post to clarify whether the mooncakes were suitable for vegans, i.e. it contains no eggs, lard or alcohol.

BreadTalk replied that it was not suitable for vegans is it contains animal oil and egg.

However, the netizen pointed out that if the mooncakes contain animal oil they’re not suitable for vegetarians either.

Vegetarians don’t eat food products made from meat, fish, shellfish, crustacea or animal by-products. This is compared with vegans, who don’t eat any food products that come from animals, including dairy products and eggs.

Angry netizens say ‘vegetarian’ label is inaccurate

This drew a number of angry comments from others, who said the “vegetarian” label was thus inaccurate and demanded an apology.

A netizen also pointed out that the product label of the mooncakes, which are manufactured by BreadTalk group brand Thye Moh Chan, indeed lists pork oil and egg among the ingredients.

An individual even posted on Facebook group Complaint Singapore about the matter, warning consumers to be cautious.

BreadTalk later says vegetarian mooncake suitable for vegetarians

BreadTalk followed this up with another comment on Saturday (14 Sept).

The company said the ingredients of the Mushroom with Vegetarian Braised Meat mooncake are suitable for vegetarians. That’s because it contains plant-based oil pastry and a vegetarian mushroom braised mock meat filling, it added.

Explaining the product label that listed pork oil and egg, BreadTalk said:

We regret that some outdated product cards were distributed in error.

It sincerely apologised for the oversight.

Some netizens not appeased

However, some netizens were not appeased, with one saying that having outdated labels was “not a valid excuse” as there should have been quality checks.

Another noted that the company had contradicted its previous statement and there’s a difference between vegan and vegetarian.

MS News has reached out to BreadTalk for more information about the incident.

Also read: Dismay after BreadTalk S’pore imposes S$0.10 plastic bag charge

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Featured image adapted from Richard Lee on Facebook and Jimmy Seah CH on Facebook.