They played with people's health: They served horse and donkey meat during Ramadan!

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry conducted inspections throughout Sakarya, as it did across all of Turkey, during the month of Ramadan.

Within this framework, teams took samples of red meat products from businesses involved in meat production and sales, as well as from restaurants, and conducted examinations.

As a result of the examinations, horse and donkey meat were detected in samples taken from the production facility and sales office of a sausage manufacturer in the city, the sales office of a meat company, and 4 restaurants.

While administrative fines at the maximum limit were imposed on the 2 production and sales companies and 4 restaurants, criminal complaints were filed against them with the Sakarya Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

In accordance with current regulations, no closure or sealing procedures were applied to the businesses selling equine meat products.

''WE WILL EXPOSE THEM''

Serdar Gök, President of the Sakarya Chamber of Meatball Makers, Kebab Makers, and Restaurant Owners, stated that they are following the matter closely and that the incident should not be reflected upon all tradespeople in Sakarya.

Expressing that they will take the necessary steps to expose the names of the production and sales companies and restaurants where equine meat was detected, Gök said, “As a Chamber, we are facing a situation that we do not approve of. We do not want this incident to reflect on all Sakarya tradespeople. Almost all of our tradespeople do their jobs properly. But unfortunately, even the fingers on one hand are not the same. As seen in this incident, there can be bad apples. We are following the matter. We demand that the names be announced by the Ministry. We want the heaviest penalties to be applied to the places involved in this issue. By taking the necessary initiatives, we will learn the names of these companies, and hopefully, after the holiday, we will announce and expose the names of these firms. As a Chamber, it is an incident we do not approve of, and we do not want it to remain as a stain on all tradespeople. We will ensure that they receive the heaviest penalties required by law. The people of Sakarya always deserve the best in service and quality.”