Muğla municipality bans street vendor sales of mussels

MUĞLA

The municipality of the Bodrum district in the southwestern province of Muğla has temporarily banned the sale of mussels by street vendors.

The move came after authorities announced that over 50 people were poisoned at various district hospitals since June 3 after eating mussels they bought from street vendors.

“The mussel sales out in the open [on the streets] in Bodrum have been banned for a period of time due to the recent food poisoning incidents that our citizens have been going through,” Bodrum municipality tweeted early on June 6.

“Our municipal police directorate and district agriculture directorate teams, which have stepped into action regarding the food items that threaten the public health, have started inspections throughout the district,” the municipality said.

“It is kindly requested that during this period, our citizens do not consume the mussels whose locations of productions are not known and are sold in the open,” it also said.

Mussels stuffed with rice, called “midye dolma” in Turkish, are a popular food in Turkey. Hygiene rules are not always strictly obeyed during the production of the delicacy, which is often sold on the streets in Turkey.