Turkey abandons bid to force doner kebab rules on Europe
Withdrawal ends bid to standardize meat rules, slicing, and marinades across the EU after objections from member states, including Germany.
A Turkish bid to secure an EU-wide "Traditional Speciality Guaranteed" label for doner kebabs has been withdrawn, ending a move that would have dictated how the popular dish is prepared and marketed across the bloc.
The proposal would have set uniform standards on ingredients and preparation, including meat sourced from cattle older than 16 months or lamb aged at least six months, and chicken thighs and breasts; veal and turkey meat would have been banned. It would also have required meat to be sliced to a thickness of 3-5 mm, regulated the type of knife used, and subjected marinades to rules.
The Turkish authorities argued the doner is a national dish that spread to Europe through migration from Turkey, while German officials said the kebab in Germany has evolved into a distinct part of German cuisine. The tradition of cooking meat on a vertical rotisserie dates back to the 16th century, according to the Turkish International Doner Federation (Udofed).
German industry officials pushed back. The Turkish federation failed to consult Germany's kebab sector, which drew support from the government in Berlin. The German food and agriculture ministry told the BBC last year that it had taken note of the bid "with some astonishment." Former German agriculture minister Cem Özdemir, a Turkish-origin politician, said it was up to everyone to decide how a doner should be eaten in their country, and there was no need for guidelines from Ankara.
If the bid had gone ahead, a European kebab industry largely shaped by the Turkish diaspora would have faced changes. In Germany alone there are more than 1.5 million people of Turkish origin, and around 60,000 people are employed in the kebab trade, producing about 400 tonnes a day, according to the Association of Turkish Doner Manufacturers in Europe (ATDID). Across Europe, kebab sales total roughly €3.5 billion annually, with about €2.4 billion of that in Germany.
The Turkish federation said it withdrew its application on 23 September after a large number of objections arose; an attempt to reach a compromise failed. An EU official told BBC Turkish that the bid was heading toward rejection.