The Regulation on Food Additives in the Turkish Food Codex (“Regulation”) is introduced in Official Gazette dated 13 September 2023 and numbered 32338 (Duplicate).
The Regulation which has been prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (“Ministry”) in compliance with the EU legislation specifies the list of food additives allowed to be used in foods, conditions of use and labeling rules.
The Turkish Food Codex Regulation on Food Additives dated 30 June 2013 was repealed.
Accordingly, a food additive or a food containing a food additive that is contrary to the provisions of the Regulation will not be placed on the market.
Similarly, a colorant, permitted for use within the scope of the relevant product category of the Regulation, will not be used in a misleading manner to the consumer by making the food in which it is used similar with another food by its nature, identity and characteristics.
The Regulation includes the following provisions:
- Heat-treated sausage, cheese halva, palace halva, pull halva, tahini halva, summer halva and similar products, sausage, baklava, tahini, köme, pestil, bastık, walnut sausage and similar products, cream products will have to comply with the regulation until April 1, 2024.
- Accordingly, the scope of the annex titled “Some products produced in Turkey and food additives prohibited for use in them” has been expanded and the use of all additives in local products such as clotted cream, tahini, baklava, köme, pestil, bastık, walnut sausage and similar local products has been prohibited.
- The use of titanium dioxide, also known as colorant, is also prohibited, and foods cannot be produced with this additive as of 1 April 2024.
- Additives in Group 1 of the regulation (except calcium chloride), phosphoric acid-phosphates and polyphosphates cannot be used in unripened cheeses other than soft fresh cheeses.
- Doner kebab and poultry doner (raw/prepared meat mixture) will not contain certain E-coded additives with thickening function and water retention.
- The use of emulsifiers in fermented sausages and the additive E427 (Cassia gum, Cassia gum), which has a thickening function and water retention feature in heat-treated meat products, was also prohibited.
- Colorants cannot be used in the coating of pastrami and local halva (cheese, saray, pull, tahini, summer halva and similar).
Foods placed on the market before 1 April 2024 by food operators active before the publication date of the Regulation will be available on the market until the end of their shelf life.
Please see this link for the full text of the Regulation published in the Official Gazette dated 13 October 2023 and numbered 32338 (only available in Turkish).
