The Ankara Food Control Laboratory conducts 1.4 million analyses annually.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry announces the irregularities arising from food inspections on the ministry's website in the 'New Food Public Announcement System'. According to Article 8 of the Regulation on Official Control of Food and Feed dated December 17, 2011, the names of companies producing or selling spoiled or altered foods that endanger people's lives and health, along with the product name, brand, batch, and serial number, are shared here. After the inspections, samples taken from the workplace are brought to the Food Control Laboratory Directorate. It is determined whether the sample examined in the laboratory environment is suitable or not. Irregular foods identified in 41 directorates, primarily the Ankara Food Control Laboratory Directorate, are first withdrawn from the market, and then businesses selling unsuitable food are fined under the relevant legislation.

'IF THE SAMPLE IS NOT SUITABLE, IT WILL BE REANALYZED'

The Ankara Food Control Laboratory opened its doors to showcase its analysis work. Laboratory Director Yusuf Varlık stated that samples taken by food inspectors from provincial and district agricultural directorates are brought to the sample acceptance units, saying, "After seals, deformation, bag, and temperature controls are performed, records are made in our Ministry's Food Control Laboratory System. They are dispatched to the laboratories we are in with barcodes. Samples arriving at the laboratory are assigned to personnel by the responsible laboratory unit, and our staff begins the analysis process. The first stage of each sample is always the solution phase. After the solution phase is completed, it is given to the devices. The peaks coming from those devices are evaluated as 'suitable' or 'not suitable'. If a sample is not suitable, it will be reanalyzed. After being sure of the result, reporting is done. The report is sent to the provincial directorate, and within 7 days, a letter is sent to the relevant company to use their 'witness' and 'objection' rights. If a company wants to use the witness right, it is sent to a different laboratory of our ministry for re-analysis. If it is also found 'not suitable' there, penalty procedures are again carried out by the provincial directorate," he said.

'WE ALSO PROVIDE ANALYSIS SERVICES TO COUNTRIES'

Varlık stated that the laboratory has an area of 23,500 square meters and has 16 laboratory units, saying, "In this sense, it is one of the most equipped laboratories in Turkey. Just as we provide services domestically, we also offer analysis services to countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Northern Ireland, and Poland. In this regard, we are in a laboratory where trust is extremely high. Our analyses are conducted by 185 personnel using equipped devices. In other words, whatever device is available in Europe is also available in our country and our laboratories. In fact, we also use some advanced technology devices in our analyses," he stated. Varlık noted that around 100 to 150 samples arrive daily, stating, "A total of 18,000 to 20,000 samples come in a year. With this, we perform approximately 1 million 400 thousand analyses."

'WE MAINTAIN HIGH SENSITIVITY TO PREVENT UNJUST PENALTIES'

Varlık emphasized that approximately 14 parametric analyses are performed on honey products, stating, "We have 16 laboratory units. In this laboratory, sugar components, HMF proline, and diastase analyses are conducted. In another laboratory, carbon analysis is performed, and in another laboratory, pollen analyses continue. In oils, there is an analysis that determines the composition of fatty acids, the sterile composition, and whether there is seed oil in it. We can easily detect whether there is a mixed oil in olive oil among fatty acids. Our devices are highly technological, and our personnel are very competent. In this sense, we work in a very secure manner regarding imitation and adulteration. We can also examine about 22 types in meat and meat products. Here, we perform some analyses with a precision of 0.1% and others with a precision of 1%. For example, in chicken meatballs, due to the possibility of not seeing it because an egg is broken into it, we keep the sensitivity a bit higher by using 1% precision devices to prevent an unjust penalty," he stated.