Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Doğan, vice dean of Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) and member of the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, talked about the tricks in sucuk in his interview with Hürriyet.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Doğan, vice dean of Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) and member of the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, talked about the tricks in sucuk in his interview with Hürriyet.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Doğan, vice dean of Istanbul Gelişim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) and member of the Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, warned citizens against cheating in sucuk. Food Engineer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Doğan, on the images of 3 kangal sucuk being sold for 150 TL, which has caused controversy on social media recently, said: “Basically, bad meats are used. Offal type meats, unused parts of the animal, pancreas, stomach, part of the intestines. They use ground meat by shaving it off the bone, thus reducing costs. He drew attention to the issue by saying, "Minced meat mixed with bone dust is used."
Stating that there are tricks that citizens cannot understand by looking at the appearance and color of the sucuk, Doğan also stated that these tricks are done due to cost concerns. Stating that these tricks include the use of bone powder, offal and vegetable proteins in sucuk, Doğan stated that these tricks also threaten public health.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Doğan also touched upon the situation called adulteration in food and said, “There can be nothing in sucuk other than a mixture of minced meat and spices. However, there are things that we call adulteration, that is, deception. These can be done in under-the-counter production areas. Basically, meats that are not actually good are used. Offal type meats, unused parts of the animal, pancreas, stomach, part of the intestines. Meat leaves the slaughterhouse and bones remain after it leaves. These bones are either sent as animal feed or sent to factories to be made into food.”
They shave the minced meat off the bone and use it, in their opinion, thus reducing costs, but all of these are prohibited. It is also problematic in terms of health. If you buy the product at its normal price, market price, if you buy it from a well-known place and if your brand is reliable, I don't think you will have a problem. "Apart from that, I have the opportunity to experience these if I buy any unlabeled product at a fair," he said.
“Chicken Skin is Used Too Much”
Doğan stated that according to the Turkish Food Codex, sucuk should not contain chicken meat, that is, poultry meat. However, he also added that in order to reduce the cost, a lot of chicken skin is added to sucuk making, and even the boney parts and inner parts of the chicken are ground into minced meat and added.
“Vegetable Fibers Are Used”
Stating that bone powder is harmful, Doğan stated that the ministry looked at the amount of protein in the product during the inspections. He also stated that this protein amount should be 13-14% and said, “If it is below this amount, it means that there is something else instead of meat. At this point, if you add what we call pulp, vegetable fibres, wheat and carrot fibres, and mix them with water, you can add 1 to 6, that is, 6 kilos of that fiber into 1 liter of water, and mix it with your ground meat, and you will get a sucuk weighing nearly 10 kilos, from 3 kilos of ground meat. By adding lots of spices, costs are reduced. Here's the real problem. "You think you are eating meat, you think you are getting meat protein, but you are eating the pulp you know," he said.
Lastly, Doğan underlined that citizens should buy products from places they know and trust, and stated that if kilos of sucuk are sold at a price much lower than the price of meat, there may be a problem. At this point, he reminded that consumers should look at the labels.
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