The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announces the non-conformities revealed as a result of food inspections in the ‘New Food Public Announcement System’ on the ministry’s website.
BEING EXAMINED STEP BY STEP
In accordance with Article 8 of the Regulation on the Official Control of Food and Feed dated 17 December 2011, the name, product name, brand, batch and serial number of companies that produce or sell spoiled or altered foods that endanger people’s lives and health are shared here. After the inspections, the sample taken from the workplace is brought to the Food Control Laboratory Directorate.
It is determined whether the sample examined in the laboratory environment is suitable or not. Inappropriate foods detected in 41 directorates, especially Ankara Food Control Laboratory Directorate, are first collected from the market, and then workplaces selling food that is not suitable for sale are fined within the scope of the relevant legislation.
‘IF THE SAMPLE IS NOT SUITABLE, IT WILL BE PERFORMED AGAIN’
Ankara Food Control Laboratory opened its doors to show its analysis studies. Laboratory Manager Yusuf Varlık stated that the samples taken by the food inspectors of the provincial and district agricultural directorates are brought to the sample acceptance units and said, “After the seal, deformation, bag and temperature checks are carried out, they are recorded in the Food Control Laboratory System of our ministry. They are shipped with barcodes to the laboratories we are in.” After the samples coming to the laboratory are referred to the personnel by the relevant laboratory unit manager, our staff starts the analysis. The first stage of each sample is the analysis phase. After the analysis phase is completed, the peaks from those devices are evaluated and determined as ‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate’. If a sample is not suitable, it is re-examined. After we are sure of the result, a report is made. The report is sent to the provincial directorate, and a letter is sent to the relevant company within 7 days to exercise its right to witness. It is sent to a different laboratory and analyzed there again. “If it is found to be ‘inappropriate’ there again, the penalty procedures will be carried out by the provincial directorate,” he said.
‘WE ALSO PROVIDE ANALYSIS SERVICES TO COUNTRIES’
Stating that his laboratory has an area of 23 thousand 500 square meters and 16 laboratory units, Varlık said, “In this sense, it is one of the most equipped laboratories in Turkey. As well as providing services in the country, we also provide services abroad in Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Northern Ireland.” We also provide analysis services to countries such as Turkey and Poland. In this sense, we are in a laboratory where trust is extremely high. Our analyzes are carried out by 185 personnel and on equipped devices. In fact, we have the same devices in our country and laboratories. “We also use high-tech devices in our analysis,” he said.
Varlık stated that around 100 to 150 samples come daily and said, “A total of 18 thousand to 20 thousand samples come annually. In addition, we analyze approximately 1 million 400 thousand.”
‘WE KEEP SENSITIVITY HIGH TO PREVENT UNFAIR PUNISHMENT’
Emphasizing that approximately 14 parametric analyzes were carried out on honey products, Varlık said, “We have 16 laboratory units. In this laboratory, sugar components, HMF proli and diastosis analyzes are carried out. Our analyzes continue in the form of carbon analysis in another laboratory and pollen analyzes in another laboratory. In oil, fatty acid composition, It is an analysis that indicates its sterile composition and whether it contains seed oil. As for fatty acids, we can easily detect whether there is a mixed oil in the olive oil. Our devices are highly technological and our staff is very competent. In this sense, we work extremely safely in terms of imitation and adulteration. We can look at approximately 22 types of meat products. Here, we make products with a precision of 1 in a thousand, as well as products that we make with a precision of 1 percent. These are, for example, poultry meatballs, in case the egg is broken inside, so we can prevent an unfair penalty by making them with 1 percent sensitivity. “We keep the sensitivity a little high to pass,” he said.