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Press release…
Food codex is meticulously applied in figs…
Everyone can consume our dried figs with peace of mind…
Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters’ Association held a press conference at the Aegean Exporters’ Associations (EIB) on Tuesday, 3 December 2024.
Informing that Türkiye meets 60 percent of the world’s dried fig needs, Mehmet Ali Işık, Chair of the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association, disclosed that dried figs produced in Türkiye are controlled in dark rooms under UV lamps and lasers, He emphasized that aflatoxin, which is not a pesticide, is extracted from figs and that everyone can consume dried figs, which are included in the list of healthy food products of the World Health Organization (WHO), with peace of mind.
Climate change!
Birol Celep, Member of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Exporters Assembly, explained that the biggest reason for the quality problem in figs is that the temperature in June and July reaches 45 degrees. “There are about 300 types of figs in the records of our institute. As temperatures continue to increase with global warming and climate change, we will balance by changing production regions. We will continue the development of both our producers and our country with all our stakeholders,” Celep said.
Agricultural production lands are shifting!
Pointing out that fig was their strategic crop, but it has been their prestige crop for the last 5 years, Yusuf Gabay, Yusuf Gabay, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association, noted, “We are improving the quality of the crop year by year. We want to sell Turkish figs as a prestige product. We are working with our stakeholders. We are experiencing quality problems due to global warming and climate change. On the other hand, agricultural production lands are shifting. There is a shift from the plain to the mountain in figs. Currently, 70 percent is grown in the mountains and 30 percent in the plain. We are trying to eliminate these risks with Good Agricultural Practices.”
In order for aflatoxin and ochratoxin in figs to pose a risk to human health, a person should consume 50 kilograms of figs daily…
Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association Board Member Ahmet Göksan highlighted that this crop determines the welfare of people in Aydın province; “In order for aflatoxin and ochratoxin in figs to pose a risk to human health, a person should consume 50 kilos of figs daily, a person consumes only 300 g of figs a day. In Aydın region, our people who eat figs in the morning, noon and evening live to be 100 years old. The yield will boost even more, we need to protect our figs.”
We meet 60 percent of the world demand…
Finally, Fatma Behit, taking the floor, added that 35 thousand families make a living from figs in the Aegean region. Fatma Behit, Member of the Supervisory Board of the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters’ Association and Board Member of TARİŞ Fig Agricultural Sales Cooperatives Union, concluded, “We meet 60 percent of the demand in the world as the producer country.”
