Türkiye to mandate body cameras for food inspections amid safety concerns

ANKARA

Türkiye will require food safety inspectors to use body-worn cameras starting next year, Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı has announced, as the country faces heightened concern following a string of food-related incidents.

“Food safety is our red line. We have never compromised on this issue and we never will,” Yumaklı said.

Public anxiety over food safety heightened after a German-Turkish family fell ill and later died during a stay in Istanbul’s Fatih district.

While early speculation focused on street food they had eaten in Ortaköy, forensic experts later pointed to aluminum phosphide exposure from hotel fumigation as the likely cause.

Still, the initial suspicion fueled debates over safety standards.

This period of unease was compounded by several unrelated incidents. In Istanbul's Şişli district, 25 people were hospitalized after ordering from an unlicensed restaurant. In Beyoğlu, a 26-year-old engineer suffered severe chemical burns after drinking Turkish coffee prepared with industrial dishwasher detergent.

Local municipalities and provincial agriculture directorates increased on-the-ground checks in the wake of the incidents.

Recent inspections in several districts focused on hygiene standards, licensing, storage conditions and product labeling, with several businesses fined or temporarily sealed.

Around 1.16 million inspections were carried out as of November, with 25,750 businesses fined a total of 2.2 billion Turkish Liras ($51.8 million) for non-compliance, according to Yumaklı.