The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry has published its latest list exposing food fraud, revealing that nine companies were found to have added food dye to tea in 2025.
The ministry’s “List of Adulterated or Counterfeit Foods” highlighted the violations, sparking concern among industry experts.
Yaşar Üzümcü, president of the Chamber of Food Engineers, emphasized that the use of coloring agents in tea is strictly prohibited.
“There is no regulation that allows altering the natural color of tea with additives,” he said. Üzümcü warned that consuming dyed tea could lead to allergic reactions, skin redness, itching, digestive and respiratory problems. He added that long-term exposure has been linked to serious health consequences, including cancer, liver damage and kidney impairment.
Üzümcü explained that laboratory analysis is necessary to determine definitively whether tea is genuine or adulterated.
While sensory evaluation cannot provide absolute certainty, it can raise suspicions, he noted. “Genuine quality tea releases its color gradually, whereas dyed tea changes color rapidly. Unnatural brightness or artificial tones visible to the eye may also be a sign, and taste and aroma can differ in adulterated products,” Üzümcü detailed.
Food engineer Nurten Sırma pointed to a 2025 study that detected Allura Red (E129) and Carmoisine (E122) dyes in some imported Ceylon black tea samples in Türkiye.
She stressed that these findings did not concern Turkish-produced tea but rather imported products sold domestically.
