It has been revealed that the Central Research Laboratory (ÇÜMERLAB) of Çukurova University, a state university in our country, has committed frauds regarding vinegar, which is a very important commercial food product.
TMMOB Chamber of Food Engineers published a statement on the subject.
“In order to ensure food safety, public health and consumer protection in our country, we insistently fight for the inclusion of our colleagues in food businesses in the food engineering profession in accordance with professional ethics. As it is known, official controls are carried out in food businesses in our country by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in accordance with the provisions of the Veterinary Services, Plant Health, Food and Feed Law No. 5996. It is not the number of these official controls that is important, but their quality, with the involvement of food engineers, a professional group specialized in food science. Today, in addition to the globalizing world economy, natural disasters, pandemics, etc. Due to events, the importance of packaged foods in consumers' living conditions is increasing. In this case, the changing economic conditions lead to an increase in food inflation in our country and, unfortunately, due to the wrong mentality of food producers when producing products, food products are adulterated and imitated, causing the production of foods that are not worth the money spent by consumers for food.”
No Analysis is Made on Vinegars!
There is no product circular prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry regarding vinegar, one of our traditional products. Therefore, since there are no specified food safety and quality control criteria, analyzes cannot be carried out on vinegars by the Food Control Laboratory Directorate affiliated with the Ministry. According to TSE 1880 EN 13188 vinegar standard, the acidity rate of vinegar should be at least 4%. Acidity in natural vinegars is achieved by converting sugar first into alcohol and then into acetic acid by bacteria through natural fermentation. However, some companies commit fraud by mixing synthetically obtained acetic acid into vinegar, and sometimes they use synthetic acetic acid instead of completely natural vinegar in white vinegar. Or they may adulterate the product by mixing a very small amount of natural vinegar with acetic acid. This situation cannot be detected with the current analysis method.
Information Should Be Shared with the Ministry
The use of synthetic acetic acid that is not suitable for food may pose a danger to human health. While natural vinegar may be rich in probiotics and other nutrients created during the fermentation process, synthetic vinegar does not provide this nutritional value. On the other hand, with carbon isotope analysis, which is not included in the legislation in Turkey, it can be determined whether the fruit used is produced from the fruit written on the label and whether it contains synthetic acetic acid. For this reason, official controls must be carried out effectively in vinegar production areas, food engineers must be involved in these official controls and the analysis of the samples to be taken must be ensured. At the same time, it is essential for food safety that this information be shared with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry by the relevant analysis institution and shared with the public by the ministry, which is the local authority on the relevant food.
