Account owner informing public about food ingredients temporarily detained at airport upon Ülker’s complaint

Duvar English

The owner of the social media account named “Gıda Dedektifi” (“Food Detective”), Musa Özsoy, on Sept. 25 was temporarily detained at Istanbul Airport. The social media account aims to inform the public about the ingredients of mainly packaged and processed food products.

Gıda Dedektifi announced the detention and said “Our account owner Musa Özsoy was detained at Istanbul Airport following a ‘civil’ lawsuit filed by a company. We leave it to you to decide whether (it is right) to make a detention in a civil case and to issue a search warrant before the case is even notified to us.”

In another statement, it added that the case was a criminal case, not civil, but there is no indictment, accusation or court information which was notified to Özsoy.

“We testified due to the criminal complaint filed by Yıldız Holding with unfounded allegations and accusations against us. After testifying, our account owner Musa Özsoy was released,” it later added, quoting their previous tweet regarding Turkish food giant Ülker, affiliated with Yıldız Holding.

Ülker is a Turkish multinational food and beverage manufacturer, mainly producing biscuits, cookies, crackers and chocolates.

In the quoted tweet dated 2022, Gıda Dedektifi says, “In the lawsuits filed against us, Ülker claims that its products are not unhealthy. Look, even in the commercial for crackers, the simplest junk food they have produced for 50 years, they have to publish the following line: ‘Eat 4-5 portions of vegetables and fruits a day for your health.’ So why?”

The account named Gıda Dedektifi has been arguing for a long time that most of Ülker’s products contain several additives, damaging one’s body health.

"The company's claims (in the lawsuits against us) are basically based on unfounded accusations such as 'brand defamation,' 'unfair competition' and 'opposition to the Turkish Commercial Code.' The company, which claims to have suffered commercial losses, spends the money it would have spent on improving food ingredients on lawsuits and lawyers," Gıda Dedektifi said in another statement, adding that their publications are made "based on label data, legislative provisions and the Health Ministry Scientific Board regulations."