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Hard times for a meatball lover…

During our student days in a foreign country, we invited another student who was spending his years there to our home for breakfast. When the guest saw the bread on the table, he immediately reacted. He claimed that lard was used in making the bread…

I don’t say “claiming” for nothing. As soon as we set foot in that country, we learned the names of the brands that used ‘non-halal’ ingredients from a list handed to us, and distanced ourselves from them.

The brand of bread wasn’t on that list, but I remember feeling sick to my stomach at the reaction of someone who had spent years in that country.

I have no reason to think that the people of other Muslim countries are different; I am assertive about the people of our country: Even those of us who are lax about the consumption of religiously ‘forbidden’ food and drink are sensitive about ‘pork’.

When you go to restaurants in foreign countries, you look at the menus from this perspective, and even if there is no information to the contrary, sensitivity is conveyed to the waiter…

I do not remember any discussions centered on pork in our country.

That love has come true now.

State inspection units have scanned various foods on-site in different provinces and determined that some brands use pork in their production.

There are brands that produce food items such as olive oil and spices that add different substances considered forbidden to their products – this process is called ‘adulteration’ – but since we have become accustomed to the fact that such claims can be true over the years, they have not had much impact.

But ‘pork’ is different…

Another feature that is at least as important is that among the brands on the list that use ‘pork’ in their production, there is also a well-known company…

Köfteci Yusuf’s…

There are probably not many people who haven’t visited Köfteci Yusuf, which has hundreds of branches all over the country, and haven’t tasted its meatballs.

Meatballs are known to be both cheap and delicious…

Actually, I should say “It was known.” It was one of our frequent stops on our intercity travels; however, when we visited about five years ago, we, as a family, came to the conclusion that what we ate was not as delicious as it used to be.

I remember thinking to myself, “Many branches lead to low quality.” If I knew him, I would want to warn him.

It had never crossed my mind that there could be an additive in our food that shouldn’t be there. For this reason, I was skeptical when the news about “meatballs with pork additives” first appeared on social media and websites without a brand name, and then was announced as Köfteci Yusuf with an inspection report.

When I watch his efforts on social media to clear himself, I see Köfteci Yusuf as someone who is being misled, starting with his closest circle…

Is it wise to get a court order to block access to news as soon as he realizes that there will be a negative inspection report about him, in order to prevent publications?

If the mind is his own, it means he is taking the situation lightly. If it is someone else’s mind, that person cannot be his friend.

What about the fact that he waited four or five days to plead his innocence?

The same goes for basing his defense on self-confidence…

I am curious about the production process of the tons of meat products that are sent to hundreds of branches every day. I also wonder where the meat is obtained from, what processes it goes through to be turned into meatballs. The delivery of the production to the branches may also be a separate matter of curiosity.

Is it enough?

Of course not.

What happened during the inspection report at the branches where the samples were taken is also important. There must have been cameras around.

If I were in his shoes, I would immediately and without wasting any time form a committee to reveal the truth in all its dimensions, in order to eliminate the suspicions of his customers all over Turkey that have arisen from the news.

Of course, it’s his own business.

It would be better to address the issue instead of blaming the shadows.

There is a reason why I am addressing the issue from this aspect that no one has touched upon before: Since I am a former customer, this time, my stomach dropped.

Moreover, when I went to return for a visit a short while later, I saw that he was offering me the same bread, and I immediately grabbed the seemingly “friendly” person who had come to our house as a guest and made us experience the event that made our stomachs turn to our mouths in a foreign country by the throat.

For some reason, he wanted to introduce himself to us as ‘more Muslim than us’.

As a meatball-lover, I don’t want to believe that I’m eating meatballs with ‘pork’ added to them.

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