Greenpeace Türkiye analyzed 20 tomato samples purchased from 5 supermarket chains in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli, Sancaktepe, Ataşehir and Kadıköy districts at an internationally accredited laboratory. Regulatory violations were found in 3 of the products, or 15%; 2 contained active substances not authorized for use on tomatoes, while Chlorfenapyr, which was completely banned as of December 31, 2010, was detected in one. According to the Hal Kayıt Sistemi, these products bore the “good agricultural practices” logo. More than 3 pesticides were detected in 7 of the samples, or 35%, while at least one PFAS pesticide was found in 14, or 70%. Only one sample, or 5%, showed no pesticide traces.
The organization assessed the results and supermarket policies in its “Supermarket Report Card,” allocating 75 points to commitments and 25 points to laboratory results. Greenpeace called for full transparency, zero tolerance for the cocktail effect, lower limits and independent inspections. It recommended allowing no more than 3 pesticides in a single product, requiring supermarkets to set their limits 20% below government thresholds, and providing support to farmers. Berkan Özyer stated that following more than 50 thousand signatures, the Ministry disclosed that 6 thousand 369 of 246 thousand 946 samples from 55 products were non-compliant in 2021-2023, but did not share details.
Why it matters
These findings raise questions, from the consumer’s perspective, not only about the safety of individual products but also about which oversight mechanisms support the sustainability and production labels used in supermarkets. The detection of active substances that do not comply with regulations in products bearing the Good Agricultural Practices logo also makes it necessary to explain more clearly the relationship between the label and the actual inspection result. If Greenpeace’s recommendations are implemented, the criteria that supermarkets disclose to the public and the support they provide to producers could become decisive in managing pesticide use; however, it is not clear from the report whether this will be implemented. The lack of details in the non-compliance data disclosed by the Ministry also limits consumers’ ability to track which product, substance and inspection result they are dealing with. For this reason, the focus of the debate is both on independently testing supermarket policies and on the accessibility of official information.
Background
Turkey is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 25 reports mentioning this name in the last 90 days; the most recent is dated 1 September 2026.