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Italy pressed on mozzarella scare EU warns Italy over cheese scare
(about 10 hours later)
Italy is facing pressure from the European Commission to provide information over the possible contamination of buffalo mozzarella. Italy has not done enough to ensure contaminated mozzarella cheese does not reach consumers, the European Commission has said.
If Italy fails to provide the requested information by 1800 (1700 GMT) on Thursday, the commission says it will consider "safeguarding measures". It has warned Italy to take further urgent action, or risk a ban on exports of the cheese from the Campania region.
Higher than permitted levels of dioxin, which can cause cancer, had been found at some mozzarella producers.
Italy says it has traced the farms at the source of the contamination, and destroyed their milk.
But in a statement, the European Commission said those measures did not go far enough:
"No recall of product potentially contaminated has been carried out, and the surveillance programme on the farms of the Campania region is still too limited."
The statement went on to say that if further action was inadequate, the Commission would consider proposing "safeguard measures" for diary products originating from the Campania region.
Correspondents say that would normally mean an export ban.
Japan and South Korea have already imposed an import ban on the cheese.Japan and South Korea have already imposed an import ban on the cheese.
High levels of carcinogenic dioxins were reportedly found in buffalo herds whose milk is used to make the cheese. Media frenzy
The Italian authorities sent some information on Wednesday, but it was found to be incomplete, European Commission health spokeswoman Nina Papadoulaki said on Thursday. Italy says it has contained the problem, and insists there is no food scare.
"Apparently they [the affected cheese stocks] are just in the local market, in the Italian market," she told a news conference later on Thursday. Officials told the Commission that 130 mozzarella production sites have been checked and dioxins above the EU limit were found at 25 of them.
"We are talking about four holdings that are positive and 23 dairy establishments. The quantities of dioxins were higher than the EU legislation requires, but it was not excessive." The buffalo farms supplying those sites were traced and the milk was destroyed.
The commission is calling for "the immediate withdrawal from the market of all contaminated products, the name of the buffalo farms placed under bans, the list of contaminated products, information on the control measures put in place and guarantees on prevention measures". Eating pieces of the cheese for the cameras, the Italian agriculture minister, Paolo De Castro, told journalists there was no health risk, and blamed the scare on a media frenzy.
On Wednesday, Italy sealed off more than 80 dairy farms after finding higher-than-permitted levels of dioxins, the health ministry said. "The checks have revealed a limited number of cases, 83 out of 1,900 (dairy farms), and the produce has been seized," he said.
Special checks were being made to guarantee the safety of the cheese, the ministry said. Toxic waste
Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said international alarm was "totally exaggerated and unjustified". The contamination emerged last week, when buffalo herds in the Naples area of Campania region showed milk contamination after spot checks.
Spot checks
Last week, veterinary tests were ordered on more than 60 buffalo herds in the Naples area after spot checks showed milk contamination from toxic waste illegally dumped by criminals on agricultural land used for pasture.
Although cheese producers says only a tiny proportion of their production could be affected, buffalo farmers are now panicking after an unprecedented fall in milk sales of up to 60%, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome.
Police are investigating whether feed given to herds around the city of Naples was tainted.Police are investigating whether feed given to herds around the city of Naples was tainted.
Mozzarella production is big business in Italy, with herds of a quarter of a million buffalo producing a total of 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella cheese each year, 16% of which is exported. It's believed the cause is toxic waste, illegally dumped by criminals on agricultural land used for pasture.
The Naples area has a chronic waste-management problem, made worse by the dumping of illegal industrial waste, much of it toxic, transported from Italy's industrial north.The Naples area has a chronic waste-management problem, made worse by the dumping of illegal industrial waste, much of it toxic, transported from Italy's industrial north.
Only in recent months have the authorities attempted to get to grips with the problem, which has become an issue in Italy's forthcoming general election, our correspondent says. Mozzarella production is big business in Italy, with herds of a quarter of a million buffalo producing a total of 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella cheese each year, 16% of which is exported.