Food Environment Policies in Türkiye

Background

The increasing burden of diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) highlights the need for effective food environment policies. The Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) provides a structured framework to evaluate government actions. Building on a previous Food-EPI assessment in Türkiye that identified major implementation gaps, this study offers a narrative synthesis of food environment policies to provide a context-specific understanding of the current policy landscape and identify key gaps and opportunities.

Methods

This study builds on a prior Food-EPI assessment and integrates evidence from national policy documents, official reports, and legislative frameworks. Policies were categorized across Food-EPI domains, including food composition, labelling, promotion, pricing, provision, and retail. A narrative synthesis approach was used to assess implementation, strengths, and gaps relative to international best practices.

Results

Food environment policies in Türkiye show uneven development across domains. Food provision policies, particularly in schools, are relatively well structured. In contrast, policies on food promotion and retail remain limited and insufficiently regulated. The lack of nutrient-based regulatory frameworks, especially in marketing and pricing, reduces policy effectiveness. Additionally, policies are fragmented, rely on voluntary agreements, and lack strong monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.

Conclusions

Strengthening food environment policies in Türkiye requires better integration, mandatory regulatory approaches, and alignment with international best practices. Priority areas include implementing nutrient-based regulations, strengthening control of food marketing—particularly in digital environments—and integrating public health objectives into fiscal and agricultural policies. These actions are essential to improve dietary behaviours and reduce the burden of NCDs

Key messages

• Food environment policies in Türkiye are fragmented, uneven across domains, and largely rely on voluntary approaches, limiting their overall effectiveness.

• Stronger, mandatory and integrated policies—especially in food marketing, pricing, and retail—are needed to improve diets and reduce NCD burden.