Mooncakes using traditional Chinese medicine ingredients are gaining significant popularity ahead of next week's Mid-Autumn Festival, reflecting consumers' increasing interest in safer, healthier foods.

TCM holds that many herbs can act as both nourishment and medicine, being as effective in disease prevention as pharmaceuticals. This theory, known as medicine food homology, forms the basis of food therapy.

To date, the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation have recognized 106 types of traditional Chinese herbs as nutritional supplements, allowing them to be used in food preparation.

As consumers become more concerned with food safety and health, mooncakes — traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on Sept 17 this year — are being made with less sugar and oil to meet the needs of today's consumers.

For example, Tong Ren Tang, a time-honored TCM brand, has introduced a mooncake gift set containing traditional Chinese medicine ingredients such as danggui (female ginseng), dangshen (a type of bellflower) and shihu (the dendrobium flower). These mooncakes are designed in five colors, aligning with the TCM theory that "five colors nourish five organs".

Some traditional Chinese medicine hospitals have also started producing their own MFH mooncakes.

"Consumers are increasingly focused on food safety and health, preferring products with natural ingredients, no additives and reduced sugar and oil," said Han Lu, director of the Medicine Food Homology Research Institute, part of Beijing Tong Ren Tang Health Pharmaceutical Co. "Additionally, traditional Chinese culture, particularly TCM, has become more popular in recent years."

When choosing TCM ingredients for the mooncakes, experts determine their effects to avoid drug reactions and make the best use of them, while ingredients such as grapes and coconuts are added to increase the flavor, Han said.

"Herbal mooncakes don't have a strong taste of medicine but maintain the unique characteristics of medicinal cuisine," said a female consumer surnamed Li, a resident of Chengdu, Sichuan province, who has purchased such mooncakes.

After learning that chenpi (mandarin orange peel) and shanyao (Chinese yam) can improve her weak spleen and stomach, she specifically chose to buy mooncakes with these ingredients this year.

Despite the incorporation of TCM ingredients, some experts point out that they still remain high in oil and sugar and are often consumed more as a novelty than for their health benefits.

Ma Xiaoju, director of the department of nutrition at the School of Public Health at the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, cautioned that foods produced with MFH may contain only small amounts of herbs, which may not have significant health benefits.

Additionally, due to their high sugar and fat content, mooncakes are not recommended for people with high blood sugar levels, according to a report in Chuanguan News, a media company based in Sichuan.

In recent years, food and beverages incorporating TCM ingredients have become increasingly popular across China. For many consumers, these new products are not intended for medicinal treatment but to support a healthier lifestyle, experts said.

Li Boyu contributed to this story.