Turkey updates drinking milk and food labeling regulations

The Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has implemented new regulations regarding drinking milk through an amendment to the Turkish Food Codex. The changes aim to prevent consumer deception, ensure food reliability, and prevent unfair competition among food businesses.

Key updates to milk classification include a standardized fat content system. Intermediate classifications, such as those using percentage-based labeling, have been removed. Milk must now be categorized strictly as ‘full fat’, ‘fatty’, ‘semi-skimmed’, or ‘skimmed’. Additionally, the term ‘natural’ may only be used for full fat and fatty drinking milk, while lactose-free or reduced-lactose milks are prohibited from using the term.

Regarding additives, the regulation restricts flavoring agents to ‘natural flavorings’ only. It also introduces new limits on sugar content, setting a maximum of 5% by mass for added sugar and a maximum of 9.5% for total sugar content. The addition of sugar derivatives such as glucose and fructose syrup, other than sucrose, is now prohibited. Existing food businesses have until March 31, 2027, to comply with these new standards.