A new survey has revealed that while close to 100 percent of tourists to Turkey find Turkish food from eating establishments satisfactory taste-wise, only 59 percent consider it safe and hygienic.
The Turkish Food Safety Association (GGD), which was founded to raise awareness in society about food safety, recently conducted a survey titled "Food Safety Information Research" to ascertain the opinions of tourists to Turkey, particularly those from the European Union, on food safety and hygiene and their food retailing and eating establishment preferences. The GGD contracted with independent research company GfK to carry out the survey. The survey group comprised 108 tourists from European countries above the age of 18.
The survey showed that 40 percent of European tourists were quite satisfied with dishes from Turkish restaurants, 56 percent were satisfied and 5 percent gave no opinion. One hundred percent of male participants said they found Turkish meals delicious. All of the participants between ages 35 and 54 also reported that they found Turkish meals delicious.
The survey, which was conducted in person, also looked at the level of satisfaction among tourists with the safety and hygiene of dishes. While 59 percent of tourists surveyed considered Turkish food safe and hygienic, 40 percent were undecided on the question. The survey also covered the food retailing preferences of tourists to Turkey. Results showed that tourists prefer supermarkets (28 percent), small local grocers (26 percent) and specialty stores (16 percent), such as bakeries, fruit and vegetable markets and meat markets, for buying foodstuffs in Turkey. Furthermore, 8 percent of respondents noted that they prefer shopping at local bazaars and street vendors.
The survey also explored what types of eating establishments tourists prefer in Turkey. While 63 percent stated that they prefer local restaurants, 21 answered hotel restaurants and 7 percent said street vendors.
The GGD also recently initiated a project titled "Safe Food, Healthy Turkey" in July to raise awareness among the public on food safety issues. The project conveys that inaccurate information is often provided by the media on food safety and encourages the public to look to the GGD for "correct and reliable information." A hotline (0212 385 25 15) was activated as part of the project and is staffed by personnel who are trained to answer all kinds of questions about food and food safety.
Resource: Today”s Zaman
