A meeting was held in Istanbul chaired by Governor Davut Gül on food safety, which was on the agenda after the death of the Böcek family. At meetings, all businesses are required to record audio and video.
Various regulations and sanctions have been introduced against businesses in Istanbul related to food safety and control, which became a hot topic after the deaths of four members of the Böcek family.
At the Food Safety Meeting chaired by Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, measures to be taken to ensure people's access to healthy food and protect public health were discussed. Istanbul Governor's Lale Hall Meeting; Deputy Governors Hasan Gözen, Cengiz Karabulut and Dr. MH Nail Anlar, Deputy Secretary General of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Remzi Albayrak, President of the Institute of Forensic Medicine Dr. Hızır Aslıyürek, university representatives, district mayors and deputy mayors, provincial directors, representatives of specialized departments, specialized scholars in the field of food engineering and representatives of relevant organizations.
24-HOUR REGISTRATION REQUIRED
The following decisions were made at the meeting:
All businesses are required to record audio and video continuously 24 hours a day and retain all records for 30 days.
Food inspection committees will be established across the province and food inspections will be carried out 24 hours a day. Business owners and workers will be trained on food safety and hygiene.
The requirement of food businesses to “preserve sold samples for 72 hours” will be strictly implemented.
Inspections of street vendors and business owners will be stepped up in Istanbul.
Local management and inspection teams will certainly not tolerate any disruptions in the cold chain that must exist in businesses that produce and sell food.
Companies providing pesticide services will be inspected and administrative and judicial proceedings will be initiated against those found not complying with standards.
In addition to administrative action, the prosecutor's office will file criminal complaints against businesses found selling defective or expired products during inspections.
GOVERNOR GÜL: NO UNIFORMITY ABOUT FOOD
In his assessment at the meeting, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül said: “Together we prevented the problem of food poisoning that occurred in our city recently. 4 of our citizens unfortunately died. I ask God to have mercy on our dead citizens. This delegation gathered today to prevent this incident from happening again. The Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry carried out 196 thousand inspections in 10 months last year 2025. We see that as much as possible on-the-ground inspections of personnel, employer training and the sensitization of our citizens are the foundation of this work.” “We do not mean the area of public order. Health and food safety are also in this area. What we need to do is enforce the existing law continuously. Our tolerance is zero in both food and other areas of concern for our people.”
Governor Gül also added at the meeting that citizens can use the QR code application at businesses to access information about when their business was last inspected by food groups.
