Safety concerns challenge Turkish food exports to Europe

ISTANBUL

The European Union's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) flagged 50 Turkish food products for safety concerns in April, while 19 of the 50 products tested received warnings and 31 were completely rejected at the border.

The RASFF, established by the EU to safeguard food safety, identified banned substances or excessive levels of permitted ones in 27 different Turkish food items across 10 categories. Fruits, vegetables and dried goods were all impacted.

Dried figs topped the list of notified products with 14 alerts, followed by fresh lemons at seven. Other products included fresh peppers, grapefruit and sesame seeds, cited twice. While pistachios, peppercorns, dene leaves (a type of herb), frozen peppers, mulberries, noodles, pet food, hazelnuts/groundnuts, food supplements, apricots, thyme leaves, cumin seeds/powder, roasted red peppers, dried thyme, raisins, mineral water, margarine, sesame paste, green tea, plums, and disposable tea were all reported once.

France raised the most concerns about Turkish exports in April with 15, followed by Bulgaria with 13. Germany with six, Italy and Switzerland with two also submitted notifications. Greece, Romania, Hungary, Luxembourg, Spain, Denmark and Belgium each reported one issue.

Türkiye's General Directorate of Food and Control addressed the rejected lemons from Bulgaria, stating that the affected products were destroyed and never reached consumers. The directorate emphasized that all food and feed products flagged by the RASFF or returned to Türkiye, undergo thorough analysis and official control according to relevant legislation. They assured the public that only compliant products are allowed entry into the country.