E.U. Ban On Italian Mozzarella Discarded
The European Union Commission announced on Friday that they would not be pursuing a ban on Italian mozzarella after it cases were discovered of the cheese being contaminated with dioxins which cause cancer, as the Italian government has taken adequate measures to control the issue,
In a news conference, E.U. heath spokesperson, Nina Papadoulaki, stated that the commission was entirely happy with the measures undertaken by the Italian government and that they would me maintaining continuous involvement authorities in Italy to ensure the issue does not arise again. Papadoulaki stated that with reports they had received from Italy that day, there was no need for further intervention at an E.U. level.
Friday saw Italy make a recall on a batch of mozzarella which was possibly contaminated. This is part of a wide-spread health scare which has had a negative impact on one of the countries most renown culinary products.
News sources from within the country have reported that the issue has been contained and that after all recalls have been completed and testing done, the reputation of Italian mozzarella will bounce back and will again achieve its former status as the ultimate symbol of Italian gastronomy.
Gianpaolo Patta, a senior health ministry official, made a statement to the press that the reported recall of buffalo mozzarella, which came from the foreign minister whilst visiting Naples, was not entirely correct.
All milk which has been scanned on dairy farms since March 3, and those who have been found to be contaminated have had all production shut down with the farms being sequestered to court. Patta also went on to say that any milk which had been used to produce mozzarella before that date will have expired at this stage.
The health minister stated that the E.U. had ordered an extensive systematic analysis of dairy farms, and that they had requested the names of those farms which had dioxin levels above the appropriate amount. Apparently there are 20 such farms, where there was 25 recently. The Italian government is happy to oblige the E.U. on releasing the names of the farms, however will wait until testing is complete so as to be absolutely sure of the data.
France is taking no chances, and the country has banned the sales of all Italian mozzarella cheeses from the Campania region for fear of it being dioxin contaminated.
The agriculture minister from France made a statement to the effect that, as a precautionary measure only, all mozzarella made from buffalo milk will be removed from shelves and subjected to extensive tests.
Italy’s high level food and health officials released a statement on Thursday in which they instructed people to not stop buying mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk, as the dioxin contamination scare had been overestimated and that none of the contaminated cheeses had been sold out of the country.
During a press conference, Italy’s agricultural minister, Paolo de Castro, ate some of the cheese in question to illustrate the governments stance on the safety of the product. Figures have been released which state that, in order to exceed dioxin limits set by the World Health Organisation, a person would have to eat over 7kg of buffalo mozzarella in one day.
This has not stopped Japan holding loads of Italian mozzarella in their customs facilities in two airports to await further testing, as well as South Korea blocking imports on all buffalo mozzarella from Italy, though this fact is contested by Italian officials. A civil protection official, Guido Bertolaso, stated that he believed countries like the U.S. and Australia, who produce their own mozzarella, are taking enjoyment from what he labeled a localised issue.
During his press conference, de Castro stated that the 25 dairies with extreme dioxin levels could face criminal charges, and that at this stage, the 25 dairies along with 83 farms have been sequestered by courts. de Castro believes that there is no doubt that people will be prosecuted, but that contaminated cheese hadn’t actually reached the market because of strict control methods.
Health minister Patta stated that the soil contamination from the burning of tyres and plastic could be the cause of the excessive dioxin levels.
Both investigators and environmentalists have stated that many types of unsanctioned garbage has been burnt within Campania, both by residents wishing to rid themselves of garbage yet to be collected, and by mafia groups attempting to get rid of toxic waste from other regions in Italy.
A dairy manager from Naples, known only as Giovanni as he requested his full name not be disclosed, stated that the mafia had actually infiltrated some dairies and now operated them, and that they used scare tactics and racketeering to avoid health controls. Giovanni went on to say that this dioxin scare was brought to light only a few weeks from parliamentary elections in a bid to gain political power in the region and bring the region to its knees.
Campania region is, along with the city of Naples, under administrations from the centre-left and is allied with the central government in Rome.
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