The Impact of Poisoning Cases in the Ottoman Empire on Food Safety and Public Health Policies (1845–1912)

This study examines the chronic continuity and multi-layered structure of poisoning cases observed in the Ottoman Empire between the 1845 and 1912. The primary aim is to reveal how the central administration perceived these events, which seriously threatened food safety and public health, and the administrative, medical, and legal defence mechanisms developed in response. The scope of the research encompasses Ottoman Archive documents ranging from accidental poisonings to consumption of spoiled food, use of untinned vessel, and large-scale military poisonings. Conducted using qualitative methods, the study involved transcribing, classifying, and interpreting archival data. These records confirm that the administrators of the period considered poisoning to be a significant and challenging threat. Consequently, this study evaluates the information in the archival documents at the intersection of forensic epidemiology and political toxicology, substantiating with data the risk management capacity of the central administration of the period and its institutional adaptation to crises. By analysing poisoning cases through the lens of food safety and public health policies, the research offers a new academic contribution to Ottoman history, medical history, public health history, and food safety literature.