Ensuring safety and quality in confectionery products

The confectionery industry continues to experience strong growth and remains one of the most stable consumer segments within the food market. From biscuits, cakes, chocolates, hard candies, soft candies, and fruit preserves to innovative confectionery products, consumer demand continues to increase throughout the year. While product diversity and manufacturing innovation create significant business opportunities, they also require increasingly stringent controls over food safety, product quality, regulatory compliance, labeling accuracy, and consumer transparency.

Confectionery testing parameters

Reference Frameworks and Applicable Regulations

Current Vietnam regulations applicable to the confectionery category include:

• QCVN 8-1:2011/BYT for mycotoxins
• QCVN 8-2:2011/BYT for heavy metals
• QCVN 8-3:2012/BYT for microorganisms, applicable nutrition labeling requirements
• Circular 30/2026/TT/BYT on Nutritional Labeling, Codex standards, product-specific TCVN standards, customer specifications, retailer requirements, food safety regulations, and internal company standards.
• Applicable product standards may include TCVN 12940:2020 for baked mooncakes, TCVN 12941:2020 for snow-skin mooncakes, TCVN 7406:2004 for cakes without cream, and TCVN 5909:1995 for biscuits.

Common testing parameters include:

• Sensory and physicochemical quality: Appearance, color, flavor, aroma, texture, moisture content, water activity, pH, acidity, sugar profile, fat content, and other product-specific quality indicators.
• Microbiological quality: Total microbial counts, yeasts, molds, pathogenic microorganisms, indicator microorganisms, and other microbiological hazards relevant to confectionery products.
• Heavy metals and mycotoxins: Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Arsenic (As), Mercury (Hg), aflatoxins, and other contaminants that may affect food safety and regulatory compliance.
• Food additives and colorants: Synthetic colorants including Rhodamine B, Sudan dyes, Auramine O, sweeteners such as Aspartame and Acesulfame-K, flavorings, preservatives including sorbates and benzoates, leavening agents, emulsifiers such as lecithin, glycerin and pectin, and other food additives.
• Processing and packaging contaminants: MOSH/MOAH from packaging materials, PAHs (where applicable), Acrylamide in baked products, cookies and snacks, migration substances, and process contaminants.
• Micronutrients and nutritional parameters: Energy, protein, carbohydrates, sugar, total fat, saturated fat, sodium, vitamins, calcium, iron, and other nutrients where nutritional fortification claims are made.
• Allergens: Gluten, milk, whey, casein, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts including almonds and cashews, and other allergenic ingredients.

Confectionery testing

Eurofins Food and Feed Testing Vietnam provides comprehensive Farm-to-Fork solutions for confectionery manufacturers, importers, exporters, distributors, retailers, and brand owners. Through an integrated portfolio of testing, inspection, auditing, and certification services, we help ensure product quality, food safety, regulatory compliance, and market access.

Sensory and physicochemical analysis

Evaluation of overall product quality through appearance, color, flavor, aroma, texture, moisture content, water activity, pH, acidity, sugar profile, fat profile, and other relevant physicochemical parameters.

Microbiological testing

Detection and control of harmful microorganisms, pathogenic bacteria, yeasts, molds, and microbiological indicators to ensure product safety throughout shelf life.

Heavy metal and mycotoxin analysis

Determination of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), aflatoxins, and other contaminants in accordance with applicable food safety requirements.

Additives and colorants analysis

Identification and verification of colorants, sweeteners, preservatives, flavorings, emulsifiers, leavening agents, and other food additives to support regulatory compliance and product specification requirements.

Processing and packaging contaminant analysis

Testing for acrylamide, PAHs (where applicable), MOSH/MOAH, packaging migrants, and other contaminants that may arise during manufacturing, processing, storage, or packaging.

Allergen testing

Identification of allergenic ingredients including gluten, milk, soy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and other allergens to support allergen risk management and labeling compliance.

Nutritional analysis

Determination of energy, protein, carbohydrates, sugars, fat, saturated fat, sodium, vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional parameters to support product labeling and nutritional claims.

Food Safety Solutions

• Support for shelf-life and stability studies, product declaration and regulatory compliance, export market requirements,
• Nutrition labeling review,
• Customized technical and regulatory workshops, and implementation of GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, BRCGS, and customer-specific food safety requirements.

Environmental compliance testing and consulting services supporting food manufacturing operations

• Environmental monitoring programs,
• Industrial hygiene sampling, 
• Water quality assessment,
• Production environment monitoring, sanitation verification,
• Environmental compliance testing, and consulting services supporting confectionery manufacturing operations.