Pork in meatballs, heart in kebabs... Statement from Minister Yumaklı: 'We will have zero tolerance'

Turkey is debating the "List of Foods Subject to Imitation and Adulteration" published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. It was revealed that the list included pork in the meatballs of a famous meatball chain, horse meat in sausage, heart in raw Adana kebab, and foreign substances in spices. This situation has raised concerns regarding public health and the consumption of reliable food. In his statement on the matter, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Yumaklı said, "We do not accept any non-compliance. Our inspections will continue." Furthermore, it was stated that the sale of products found to be non-compliant will be halted and legal action will be initiated against the relevant companies.

"WE WILL HAVE ZERO TOLERANCE"

Stating that access to reliable food is the most natural right of the consumer, Minister Yumaklı said, "We do not accept any non-compliance regarding this. We will have zero tolerance. Therefore, we will continue to ensure that the 724,000 businesses in Turkey are inspected at least once a year, and more than once for various reasons."

Yumaklı responded to criticisms from Iğdır following the publication of the list of foods that are subject to imitation and adulteration and could endanger health. Yumaklı stated that they had previously announced they would implement controls, analyses, and sanctions.

Yumaklı used the following expressions:

"For a very long time, we have been sharing our efforts with the public regarding the most natural right of consumers: access to reliable food. Our relevant units have carried out their inspections, including sector-specific audits, targeted inspections, and the evaluation of incoming complaints, even during times of high food consumption such as holidays."

"WE WILL CONTINUE INSPECTIONS"

We have always said this; it is our consumer's most natural right to access reliable food. We do not accept any non-compliance regarding this. We will have zero tolerance. Therefore, we will continue to ensure that the 724,000 businesses in Turkey are inspected at least once a year, and more than once for various reasons. My 7,500 colleagues will continue their inspections in the field. We have conducted nearly 1 million inspections this year. We have identified 16,000 instances of non-compliance.

"WE HAVE IMPOSED NEARLY 800 MILLION LIRA IN FINES"

We have imposed nearly 800 million lira in administrative fines. We have filed criminal complaints with public prosecutors for 368 of these. Again, depending on the non-compliance we caught among these, we have carried out business closures. We have also carried out many sub-processes such as suspending operations, administrative fines, and the collection and destruction of those batches of products from the market.

I had said that we would switch to a new system regarding the public announcement of food-related non-compliance as stipulated in the law. How was it before? That process was ongoing. Announcements were made to the public from time to time at certain intervals without a specific schedule.

We said that we would turn this into a system where those whose processes are completed appear instantly, in order to avoid any hesitation. And we did that. In other words, we have put into effect the control, analysis, sanction, and the announcement of these, as well as the announcement of those falling within this scope. I would like to express here that we have received very serious appreciation from all segments of society on this issue.

Again, I would like to thank, through you, our businesses that produce food, comply with all rules, and respect the public's right to access reliable food. This system will continue in the same way. After control, analysis, and if necessary, sanctions, public announcements will continue to be published on the 'guvenilirgida.tarimorman.gov.tr' account. We also have a 'tarım cebimde' (agriculture in my pocket) application. We will adapt this there as soon as possible. In other words, it will be possible to access these from that application without entering our web page.

'THE ISSUE OF COMING FROM PREVIOUS YEARS IS NOT RELATED TO OUR PROCESS'

In response to journalists' question, 'There are criticisms that findings from 2021 were just published. What would you say about this?' Minister Yumaklı replied, "This is a process. These were also done methodologically in the previous period. However, every business has legal rights after the notification made to them following our findings. Such as the right to object to these, the right to request re-analysis, etc. Therefore, we are announcing those whose process has been completed. We will continue to do so in this way. In other words, the issue of coming from previous years there is not related to our process. Frankly, it is not very common for firms and institutions to use their own legal rights in this regard. In other words, the fact that there is a certain ratio within a whole does not mean that the entire system will be like that. Therefore, we will continue to make our announcements to the public in the way I have mentioned."

'WE ARE IMPLEMENTING THE NECESSARY APPLICATIONS'

Minister Yumaklı responded to the question, 'There are food and products on the published lists that are still being sold. Is it normal for their sales to continue?' as follows:

"When we carry out our checks, if a batch has non-compliance at the stage of sale of any product, we carry out the necessary applications regarding it. In other words, issues such as their withdrawal from the market and destruction after detection and analysis are carried out. However, this does not mean that all batches of every production will have the same content. Therefore, the sale of products that do not contain any non-compliance will of course continue. Let me give an example of this. Vegetable oil has been used in cheese. We look at it, it is not in the codex that vegetable oil is used, that is a separate issue, and there is no indication of it. We collect and destroy them in whichever batch they are in. However, if other batches have produced that product as it should be, there is nothing to be said about it. Its production and sale continue. This is a struggle that we will carry out together with ourselves, our citizens, and our producers who comply with all the rights of the consumer. It is necessary not to fall into the mistake of putting all our businesses in the same basket in total. However, let us underline this; we will have zero tolerance for food production or practices that endanger the health of our citizens, or issues that cause the producer to be misled by not producing that product as determined, as stated, or as written on its label, and we will continue in the same way. I want to underline this again."