According to Turizm Haber Merkezi, the news source of Turkey's tourism sector, 241 people who have returned from Turkey since the beginning of 2023 have been infected with salmonella (typhoid, paratyphoid), and the United Kingdom Health and Safety Agency (UKHSA) announced that the findings indicate a widespread source of infection and warned travelers against food and waterborne diseases, regardless of their destination.
According to FSN, a UK food safety news website, the UKHSA confirmed that the diarrhea in holidaymakers returning from Fethiye and Antalya was caused by salmonella, with the majority of cases sampled at the end of April.
In recent months, hundreds of holidaymakers who vacationed at the Hillside Beach Club Hotel in Fethiye and the Rixos Sungate Hotel in Antalya and got sick in Turkey took steps to sue and the incident was widely covered in the British press.
Public Health Specialist Prof. Dr. Çağatay Güler, who stated that many foods in open buffets in the all-inclusive system are waiting in hot weather for hours and that this alone is a problem, stated that it is important to wash hands well and made the following statements:
''Everyone wears a cheap white glove. Actually, it's so that they don't contaminate their own hands, but after a few times, it spreads the infectious agent. I always prefer someone who washes their hands to someone who wears gloves. Hands should always be washed after using the restroom, before eating, before preparing food, and raw meat should never touch cooked meat. In hot weather in the summer, for example, we ask that salad bars be removed and that poorly cooked food not be eaten.''
Stating that economic crisis, poverty, poorly managed epidemics and other disasters also pave the way for an increase in food fraud in terms of public health, Güler also stated that the deterioration of the economic situation can also facilitate some cost-reducing practices, which means that every segment of society eats what should not be eaten and is at risk of food poisoning.
