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Press release…
Mehmet Ali Işık, Chair of the Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters’ Association, announced that they have been eliminating figs with aflatoxin for 25 years!
Sharing that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Research Institutes, Universities, Producers, Exporters and Traders are working hard to prevent aflatoxin and ochratoxin contamination that may occur due to unfavourable climatic conditions in dried figs, Işık said, “Dried figs are the livelihood of at least 40,000 families, including our approximately 25,000 producers and our employees, most of whom are women in our enterprises. In this respect, it is the duty of all of us to continue the production and export of dried figs, which have a very important social and economic value for both our Aegean Region and our country, in a sustainable manner.”
Underlining that aflatoxin in dried figs is not a pesticide put into dried figs by human hands, Işık explained, “As aflatoxin can be found in many other agricultural products, it is formed during the production stage by saprophytic fungi found in nature due to unfavourable climatic conditions. Aflatoxin formation varies every year depending on climatic conditions. Depending on the adverse weather conditions during the production period, the presence of aflatoxin in total production varies between 0.5% and 1.5%. In the dried fruit sector, we have been carrying out one of Türkiye’s largest social responsibility projects, the ‘Project for the Elimination of Aflatoxin Dried Figs’, for 25 years.”
“Dried figs with aflatoxin, which are repeatedly selected and sorted in laser sorting machines and special dark rooms in the facilities, are accumulated in separate areas. As one of the sectors that initiated sustainability in Türkiye, we, as the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association, collect approximately 700 tonnes of dried figs with aflatoxin from our exporters every year, prevent them from being put on the market and mediate their conversion into energy in biogas facilities. Although the ‘Project for the Disposal of Dried Figs with Aflatoxin’ brings a financial burden of approximately 5 million dollars to our dried fig exporters every year, we are committed to continue this project in the following period as we have been continuing this project for 25 years,” he added…
