Awareness Project for Food Safety Consciousness

Healthy food consumption and "Food Safety," its cornerstone, rank among rising values globally in recent years.

Turkey, the world's food basket, is focused on "Food Safety" in food production.

Ege Yaş Meyve Sebze İhracatçıları Birliği will launch the 'We Know the Pesticides We Use' project in 2021 to draw attention to "Food Safety".

Highlighting Turkey's rich diversity in agricultural production due to its climate and soil conditions stemming from its geographical position, Ege Yaş Meyve Sebze İhracatçıları Birliği Chairman Hayrettin Uçak noted that during the cultivation of agricultural products, diseases and harmful agents negatively affect both the quality and yield of the crop, and that producers apply integrated pest management programs to prevent this.

Addressing the fact that pesticide use is one of the applications carried out within integrated pest management, Uçak stated: "However, when using pesticides, it must be understood that applications must be carried out 'at the right time, in the right dose, with the right equipment and tools, in accordance with the period between the last application and harvest time, targeting the target organism'.

Otherwise, pesticide applications would cause harm to both human and environmental health and would prevent our exports from taking place. As Ege Yaş Meyve Sebze İhracatçıları Birliği, we will begin field work on the 'We Know the Pesticides We Use' project, which we believe will help ensure safe food, in March 2021 with strawberry products."

Food Safety awareness growing daily

Stating that "Countries worldwide, particularly European Union member states, are becoming more conscious about 'Food Safety' with each passing day," Chairman Uçak continued: "This project concerns the analysis of pesticides used on 'seedless table grapes, cherries, pomegranates, peaches, mandarins, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers and grapevine leaves'—products with high export volumes.

Samples of these products will be collected in specific quantities from regions where production is intense, and analysis will be conducted at accredited laboratories. Following the analysis, we will see which pesticides are used in which products and in what quantities. Based on these results, we will be able to assess our success in meeting the desired MRL (Maximum Residue Limit) values for our largest market, the European Union, and Russia, as well as for the health of our 83 million citizens, determine whether banned pesticides are being used, and provide necessary information to both our producers and exporters on this matter."

Ege Yaş Meyve Sebze İhracatçıları Birliği Chairman Hayrettin Uçak, emphasizing that the 'We Know the Pesticides We Use' project is being implemented for the first time, concluded by saying: "Going forward, having data on pesticides will also be beneficial in discussions we will hold on various platforms."