Turkey — Nuts, Nut Products and Seeds — Sesame
Turkey received 19 RASFF border-rejection notifications in Sesame, part of Nuts, Nut Products and Seeds between 2023-Q2 and 2026-Q1. Volume peaked at 5 in 2025-Q1, with the trend falling year-on-year. The most-cited issues are Salmonella, Salmonella spp, and Salmonella Mbandaka. Measured against EU import value, that runs at 226.6 notifications per $1 billion of imports of this commodity from Turkey over the last 3 years. The list below gives each of these 20 rejections by date and RASFF reference, with the country that notified it and the hazard found; 19 carry the laboratory result and 16 say what happened to the consignment.
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Key figures
If you import sesame from Turkey
Lower risk. Turkey ranks 5th of 6 origins shipping sesame to the EU on border rejections per $1 billion of EU imports, at 226.6 — above 20% of them.
least riskmost risk
- Chance a consignment is opened at the EU border
- 30% of consignments get identity and physical checks for salmonella (Reg. (EU) 2019/1793).
- Rejections against import volume
- On average, 1 border rejection per 1,786 tonnes imported into the EU over the last 3 years; the lowest rejection rate of 5 origins with enough import volume on record to rate (EU import quantities 2022–2024, FAOSTAT).
- If it is rejected
- Treated, sorted or diverted 50%; re-dispatched 28%; held, final fate not recorded 22%. A re-dispatched lot can be sold elsewhere, a treated or sorted one can be released once it complies, and a destroyed one is lost.
- Where rejections happen
- Greece (13), Germany (2), Malta (1), of 18 border rejections in the last 3 years.
- Riskiest months
- September, February, May, by rejections since 2020.
- Test for before shipping
- salmonella (16), aflatoxins (1).
The EU does not publish how many consignments are shipped, so no page can state a true probability of rejection; these are the figures that are published.
Quarterly rejections, last 12 quarters
Show the numbers
| Quarter | Notifications |
|---|---|
| 2023-Q2 | 1 |
| 2023-Q3 | 0 |
| 2023-Q4 | 1 |
| 2024-Q1 | 1 |
| 2024-Q2 | 3 |
| 2024-Q3 | 0 |
| 2024-Q4 | 2 |
| 2025-Q1 | 5 |
| 2025-Q2 | 5 |
| 2025-Q3 | 0 |
| 2025-Q4 | 0 |
| 2026-Q1 | 1 |
Recent rejections
- 2026.2333 Salmonella spp. in hulled sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Re-dispatched. Result Salmonella spp. (limit absence /25g). Salmonella
- 2025.4650 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result PRESENCE OF SALMONELLA IN FIVE (5) OUT OF TEN (10) UNITS (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella spp
- 2025.4022 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result PRESENCE/25 GR IN 4 OUT OF 10 UNITS (limit ABSENCE /25g null). Salmonella
- 2025.3819 Violation of import regulations for the import of hulled organic sesame seeds from Turkey Notified by Germany. Re-dispatched.
- 2025.3325 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result PRESENCE/25 GR IN ALL OF THE TEN UNITS (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella
- 2025.3324 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result PRESENCE/25 GR IN ONE OUT OF TEN UNITS (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella
- 2025.1325 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result presence (limit absence /25g). Salmonella
- 2025.1319 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result presence (limit absence /25g). Salmonella spp
- 2025.1198 Salmonella Ouagadougou in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Germany. Result Detection of Salmonella Ouagadougou in 25g of sample 25-L-00878-1-1-1. Salmonella spp
- 2025.0914 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Re-dispatched. Result presence of Salmonella in two (2) out of ten (10) units (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella spp
- 2025.0284 Aflatoxins in sesame seeds from Türkiye (ORIGIN) Notified by Greece. Re-dispatched. Result B1=5.1±0.52 μg/kg SUM=9.1±0.65 μg/kg (limit B1 MAX = 2 & SUM MAX = 4 µg/kg - ppb). aflatoxins
- 2024.9361 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result Presence of Salmonella spp in one out of ten units (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella
- 2024.9211 Salmonella in hulled sesame seeds from Turkey Notified by Norway. Result present. Salmonella Mbandaka
- 2024.4256 Presence of Salmonella spp. in Turkish hulled sesame seeds Notified by Greece. Result Presence of Salmonella spp. (limit Absence of Salmonella spp. /25g). Salmonella
- 2024.3329 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result PRESENCE OF SALMONELLA IN FIVE(5) OUT OF TEN (10) UNITS (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella spp
- 2024.2758 Presencia de Salmonella spp en semillas de sésamo de Turquía. Presence of Salmonella spp. in sesame seeds from Turkey. Notified by Spain. Result Detectado (limit Ausencia /25g). Salmonella
- 2024.1455 Salmonella spp in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result presence of Salmonella in one (1) out of ten (10) units (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella spp
- 2023.8100 Salmonella spp. in tahini from Turkey Notified by Malta. Re-dispatched. Result detected (limit 0 /25g). SalmonellaSalmonella Mbandaka
- 2023.3941 Presence of Salmonella in sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Greece. Treated, sorted or diverted. Result PRESENCE IN ONE OUT OF TEN SUBSAMPLES (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella
- 2023.1941 SALMONELLA IN SESAME SEEDS FROM TURKIYE Notified by Greece. Re-dispatched. Result PRESENCE/25 GR IN ONE OF THE FIVE UNITS (limit ABSENCE /25g). Salmonella spp.
Found on the EU market: alerts and information notifications
Besides border rejections, 16 notifications since 2020 concerned sesame from Turkey found after entering the EU — 6 alerts, 10 information notifications. They are not part of the rejection figures or rates above, which measure border controls.
How they were found: official control on the market 81%, company's own check 19%. 10 led to a recall from consumers.
Show the numbers
| Year | Total | Alerts | Information notifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| 2024 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2026 to date | 0 | 0 | 0 |
- 2025.8247 info: follow-upPesticide Haloxyfop in sesame seeds from Austria, with raw material via Germany unknown origin Notified by Austria. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result 0,057 ± 0,029 (limit 0,01 mg/kg - ppm). haloxyfop
- 2025.4344 info: attentionSalmonella spp. in tahini from Türkiye Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result Salmonella detected. Salmonella
- 2025.1890 alertAllergens nuts and sesame seeds in poppy seed paste Notified by Netherlands. Company's own check, reached the market, re-dispatched.
- 2025.0039 info: attentionDetection of salmonella in hulled sesame seeds from Türkiye Notified by Denmark. Company's own check, reached the market, re-dispatched. Result positive in 25 g (one out of five samples). Salmonella
- 2024.4275 alertSalmonella Cubana in tahini from Turkey, via Belgium Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Salmonella cubana
- 2024.1788 info: attentionSalmonella spp. in sesame paste from Türkiye Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result positiv. Salmonella spp
- 2024.1050 alertMissing allergen labelling (sesame) in poppy seed paste from Turkey Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result ca. 12. peanutsesame
- 2023.6852 info: attentionSalmonella spp. in sesame paste from Turkey Notified by Germany. Company's own check, reached the market.
- 2023.2816 info: attentionSalmonella in snackbar with sesame from Türkiye Notified by Austria. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result detected in. Salmonella spp.
- 2023.2337 alertSalmonella spp. in sesame paste from Türkiye Notified by Germany. Official control on the market, reached the market. Result detected in. Salmonella spp
Data and downloads
Download all 44 entries (CSV) — every notification behind this page, border rejections and those found on the market, with how each was found and what was done.
The file holds entries up to 2026-03-19. To get new ones for Turkey by email, watch Turkey.
Turkey country report since 2020 — all notification types, not just border rejections →