Turkey Withdraws Proposed Regulations for Doner Kebab in Europe

Fri Oct 03 2025 03:25:20 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

In a bid to protect its culinary tradition, Turkey has withdrawn its application to enforce strict doner kebab regulations across the EU, impacting the kebab industry, especially in Germany.

Turkey's attempt to impose stringent regulations on the preparation of doner kebabs in Europe, aimed at obtaining a 'Traditional Speciality Guaranteed' label, has been scrapped. The proposed rules would have affected the kebab industry in Germany, where the dish has evolved significantly since its introduction. German officials criticized the move for failing to recognize the local variation and expressed that the doner has become integral to their gastronomic culture. The Turkish federation cited the need to preserve a national dish as its motivation, yet opposition from Germany's kebab industry led to a withdrawal of the application.

A Turkish attempt to force kebab shops in the EU to adhere to strict rules on how to make a doner kebab has been withdrawn.

If the bid for a 'Traditional Speciality Guaranteed' label had succeeded, restrictions would have been imposed on the types of ingredients that could be used.

Germany's kebab industry would have been particularly skewered, as the quintessential high street doner has evolved over the decades to be rather different than the original from Turkey.

Turkish authorities argued the doner should be viewed as a national dish that spread to Europe through the migration of Turks. But German officials said its take on the kebab had become part of its own national cuisine.

The traditional way of cooking meat on a vertical rotisserie goes back to the 16th Century, according to Turkey's International Doner Federation (Udofed), and the name doner is related to that cooking technique.

It asked the EU to impose uniform rules across the bloc requiring that:

the meat would come from a cow aged over 16 months, lamb aged at least six months, or chicken thighs and breasts
veal and turkey meat would be banned
meat would have to be sliced to a thickness of 3-5mm
the type of knife used would be regulated and marinades would be subject to rules too

The German variant often uses veal in a flatbread packed with vegetables including red cabbage, pickles, and topped with sauces, positioning it as a European interpretation of the Turkish classic.

The Turkish federation failed to consult Germany's kebab industry, which hit back with the support of the government in Berlin. The German food and agriculture ministry expressed astonishment at the Turkish bid.

Former German food and agriculture minister Cem Özdemir contended that it was up to Germans to decide how to enjoy their doner, asserting that the kebab 'belongs to Germany.'

If Udofed had pursued its proposal, it would have impacted a European kebab industry significantly influenced by the Turkish diaspora.

In Germany alone, over 1.5 million Turkish citizens and nearly as many of Turkish descent reside, with around 60,000 people working in the kebab sector, producing an impressive 400 tonnes of kebab daily, as reported by the Association of Turkish Doner Manufacturers in Europe (ATDID).

The Turkish federation announced the withdrawal of its bid on 23 September 2023, stating that the application faced numerous objections, and a compromise attempt ultimately failed.