Supplementary Food Approval and Inspection System

Speaking at the webinar organized by the Food Supplement and Nutrition Association, Ahmet Yavuz Karaca, the Istanbul Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry, stated that the approval and inspection processes of products are strictly monitored and inspected. He added, “We will tighten our inspections even further.”

The Food Supplement and Nutrition Association continues its informative activities about supplementary foods, which have become an integral part of our diet. Answering questions from GTBD General Secretary Melike Oktay during the program broadcast live on the association’s social media accounts and YouTube, Karaca explained that inspections are carried out under the “Risk-Based Inspection Model” within the framework of the Veterinary Services, Plant Health, Food and Feed Law No. 5996.

Karaca noted that there are around 124,000 food businesses in Istanbul, all of which are inspected, but they pay more attention to businesses producing food supplements. He said:

“When conducting these inspections, you enter a business, and the business has a report card that it fills out. Our inspectors go out into the field every day. We conduct inspections based on risk and complaints. We look at their report cards, and the system gives a score from 0 to 5. If they get a low score, the system directs us to visit again in 3 months. If they get a high score, we still visit at least once a year. Recently, especially during the pandemic period, we increased our inspections. Unfortunately, bad actors emerged, so we tightened our inspections.”

Products sold online are ordered and analyzed

Ahmet Yavuz Karaca emphasized that they also inspect online sales and continued:

“We particularly order products sold online without the company’s knowledge and compare them with those sold at retail points. At this point, we look at the technical and hygienic conditions of the business, the labeling, whether the product is produced under suitable conditions, and the traceability of the product. Traceability is very important. Two days ago, we seized 24,000 unapproved food supplements in one operation. These products were being distributed by couriers.”

Sharing information that 444 inspections were conducted in 2020 and 226 inspections have been conducted so far in 2021 for the 155 businesses producing supplementary foods in Istanbul, Karaca emphasized that they keep the number of samples high, especially for supplementary foods.

Fines rained on non-compliant companies

Istanbul Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry, Ahmet Yavuz Karaca, shared the following information:

“Non-compliance was detected in 19 businesses, and administrative fines close to 1 million TL were imposed on 36 businesses in 2020. In 2021, we increased the number of samples. We took 155 samples, detected 28 non-compliances, and imposed administrative fines of 517,000 TL on 26 businesses. Our inspections continue meticulously in the field every day.”