THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
Aegean province of Manisa’s Akhisar district Commodity Exchange Chairman Alper Alhat said that olive agriculture is facing a great danger!
Pointing out that liquid oils that resemble olive oil with flavouring harm producers and consumers, Alhat said, “Unfortunately, we have known for a long time that some cafes and restaurants have been using cottonseed oil that resembles olive oil with flavouring and dye and presenting it to their customers with olive oil dishes and salads as if it were olive oil. Until today, they have been supplying them from sources called under the counter. Now they have licences to do so legally. This situation will end olive agriculture.”
Reminding that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry used to impose various penalties on oils disguised as olive oil caught during inspections, Alhat explained, “However, according to the latest rumours, our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has started to issue licences for liquid oils that resemble olive oil with flavours and dyes. Although these products, which use images that evoke olive in their name and label design, have not yet appeared in the markets, they are fed to our people unaware of anything through hotels, restaurants, cafes and catering companies that get away cheaply through the supply channel called HORECA. Since the end consumer does not have the chance to see the packaging of these oils that he/she encounters in his/her meal, it will not be accurate for us to say ‘let him/her read what is written on it.”
THIS MISTAKE MUST BE REVERSED…
Underlining that it is not possible to find out these oils, which are similar to olive oil with their taste, smell and appearance, without laboratory analysis, Alhat noted, “I believe that our Ministry will stop the deception of our citizens who want to consume olive oil dishes because they are healthy by cancelling these permits that we think were given by mistake.”
“In our country, where trust in packaged foods is already low, we think that such products manufactured with flavourings and colourings will cause consumers to avoid packaged olive oils even more. In addition, we have been seeing the damages caused by such artificial products to agricultural production in different sectors for years and we fear that the same situation will damage olive agriculture,” Alhat added.
“Furthermore, it hurts us to use lemon sauces that do not contain a drop of lemon, while lemons cannot be collected from the tree because they are not worth money. The pomegranate-flavoured sour sauces in the raw meatballs we eat while we feel sorry for the pomegranate trees that have been uprooted. Since we know with examples how agriculture is damaged by the unfair competition created by similar artificial products, we demand from our Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to reverse the mistake and cancel the permits granted while it is not too late so that olive trees do not suffer the same fate,” Alhat concluded…
