Meat Products Communiqué Published in the Official Gazette: New Standards Have Been Introduced

The "Turkish Food Codex Meat, Prepared Meat Mixtures and Meat Products Communiqué" prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry came into force after being published in the Official Gazette.

With the communiqué, issues regarding the production, packaging and marketing of raw meat, minced meat, poultry minced meat, prepared meat mixtures, mechanically separated poultry meat and meat products in accordance with the technique were determined.

Meatball criterion was introduced for the burger product

Accordingly, the addition of other ingredients that could be sources of protein and nitrogen, except meat, milk, eggs and yoghurt, was prevented.

The smoking process and the use of condiments such as peanuts and cheese in traditional products such as sausage, pastrami and roasted meat are banned. The definition and criteria of the burger product were determined and it was ensured that it was produced in accordance with the meatball criteria.

It has become mandatory to state the name doner on the label as "leaf doner", "leaf-minced meat doner" and "minced meat doner", depending on the method of production.

The fat content of prepared poultry meat mixtures and poultry meat doner was reduced from 20 percent to 15 percent. Restrictions have been introduced to prevent the use of fillers such as starch and soy to increase product weight.

Food business operators operating before the publication date of the circular must comply with the provisions of the regulation until March 31, 2027.

"We continue to take decisive steps for safe food"

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı also evaluated the regulation in question with his post on his social account.

Stating that they continue to take decisive steps for safe food with the Turkish Food Codex and set new standards for meat products, Yumaklı said:

"We are putting an end to practices such as adding soy and starch into meat to increase the weight of the product. We prevent those that spoil the essence of our traditional flavors such as sausage and pastrami by adding different additives to them, and we transparently label our doner kebab as 'leaf' and 'minced meat'. By reducing the fat rate in chicken doner to 15 percent, we protect health and clarify the standards. We will continue our inspections and regulations with determination to ensure that every bite coming to our tables is reliable and of the quality it deserves."