Mozzarella di Bufala Authenticity at Risk
"I placed the consortium under appointed administration after inspections found that even the consortium's president was watering down his buffalo milk with cow milk," with these words the Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia announced on Tuesday the establishment of a consortium of producers which guarantees buffalo mozzarella quality to ensure the traditional cheese's authenticity.
"Over the past two years my zero-tolerance policy has led to the discovery of many causes of food fraud. In November, controls made in leading supermarkets found that 25% of the cheese sold as buffalo mozzarella was fake because it contained 30% cow milk," the Minister added.
The traditional cheese, which has PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) recognition from the European Union, is a prime ingredient in the Naples-style 'real' pizza, the most famous Italian food product which after a long political battle was finally awarded a TSG (Traditional Speciality Guaranteed) label last month. Earlier in 2008, mozzarella sales and exports dropped after tests showed that some plants near Naples were producing it with dioxin and other dangerous contaminants.
Italy and Europe - b0.01.19.20.26
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