Turkish government: "Synthetic meat and insect flour? Never here"

The news that the Turkish government was about to authorize artificial meat has been flatly denied by the Ankara government itself. “Artificial meat has never been on the agenda of our ministry and never will be,” remarked Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı. "There is no talk of allowing the production of artificial meat. There will be no legislative process on this issue." And again, "We are working to develop livestock breeding in our country. Likewise, it is claimed that the ministry wants allow insect meal in food. There is no such permit. Our citizens can rest assured."

Outlining the measures the ministry is taking for food safety, Yumaklı said: "We prepare food legislation and inspect 720,000 enterprises. We meticulously examine and evaluate consumer requests. We have made revolutionary changes in the field of agriculture in recent months."

In reiterating the position of the Turkish government, the Minister of Agriculture reiterated the long series of bans imposed by his ministry, from that of dyes for a series of local products and the supply of pomegranate-flavored sauce, in addition to the reduction of the content of salt in bread, tomato paste, buttermilk, cheese and dried meat, to the use of added sugars in fruit juices.