Food fraudsters to be made public again

Food safety is the government's red line, Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı announced, emphasizing that a new effort to crack down on food fraudsters who jeopardize citizens' health will begin on Oct. 1.

According to Yumaklı, the Agriculture Ministry is entering a new era to control every step of food from the field to the table and ensure that citizens have access to reliable food. Yumaklı stated that the ministry is responsible for food, which is the most basic need of people, and that they are interested in the safety of products as well as agricultural production, emphasizing that food safety is their red line.

"We conduct an average of 1.3 million food inspections per year," the minister said.

"In addition to routine inspections, we also conduct sectoral inspections. In 2024, we have carried out 854,694 inspections so far. As a result, administrative fines were imposed on 14,237 businesses and criminal complaints were filed against 339 businesses."

Yumaklı recalled an operation that was organized last week in Ankara against a factory that produced honey in violation of the labeling regulations, endangering human health.

"Finally, a serious operation was carried out against those who counterfeit honey, such operations will continue," he said.

"There are some criticisms on this issue, such as 'Why are the food companies that commit fraud not made public?' We will remove this question from Türkiye's agenda. We will announce the details to the public from Oct. 1. We will not tolerate those who play with the health of our people."

In the fake honey operation in Ankara, 8,150 tons of glucose, fructose and sugar and 100,000 honey labels of different brands worth 900 million Turkish Liras were seized...