Trash, Mafia linked to cheese woes

South Korea, Japan suspend buffalo mozzarella imports

Today Online 27 Mar 08;

ROME — Italian health officials planned a crisis meeting yesterday amid a sharp drop in sales of the country's famed buffalo mozzarella cheese (picture) after raised levels of the carcinogen dioxin were found in milk used to make it.

South Korea and Japan suspended imports of buffalo mozzarella after 66 buffalo herds were quarantined because of higher than normal levels of dioxin in the milk.

In a statement announcing the meeting, Agriculture Minister Paolo De Castro denounced "a negative campaign that risks having an important economic and social impact on all products from Campania", the region where most of the cheese is made. "Security is a priority and inspections in recent days show it," he said.

Most health experts quoted by local media have said that the raised levels do not constitute a danger to health, but sales have already fallen by 30 to 35 per cent in Italy, according to the organisation that oversees the product. Mr De Castro said the government had begun negotiating with the Japanese, South Korean and European Union authorities over the issue.

Officials have said the contamination is likely linked to the region's chronic waste disposal problems, which saw thousands of tonnes of rubbish left undisposed of in past months. The Mafia have a lucrative involvement in landfill sites, which are used to illegally dump toxic waste from the north of the country.

But Mr De Castro rejected that explanation in an interview with Corriere Della Sera published on Wednesday. Italy produces 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella per year. Eighty per cent is made in Campania, Italy's poorest region. Naples is the region's main city. Sixteen per cent of all buffalo mozzarella is exported, with Japan importing 329 tonnes per year and South Korea 10 tonnes.

Last week an environmental official said: "Of course we don't know for sure scientifically, but the high rate of dioxin is most likely linked to what the buffaloes ate." He said the buffalo "grazed in areas where we know that toxic waste has been dumped in recent years." — AFP

AVA stops sale of Italian buffalo mozzarella cheese
Channel NewsAsia 27 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE : The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has stopped all sales of Italian buffalo mozzarella cheese in Singapore.

This precautionary move came following reports of unusually high levels of toxic chemical dioxin detected in the milk used to produce the cheese in some Italian farms.

About 106 kilogrammes of the cheese was last imported into Singapore on January 6 this year.

AVA is currently conducting lab tests to determine whether such cheese sold here have been affected.

Japan and South Korea are the only other two countries to have suspended the import of the cheese. - CNA /ls

Sales of Italian mozzarella cheese halted amid dioxin fears
Judith Tan, Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE has stopped all sales of Italian mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk after high levels of a potentially deadly chemical were found in it.

No one here has become sick from the chemical, called dioxin, and the ban is a precautionary move, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

The embargo follows an announcement on Wednesday by Italian officials that they had discovered 'moderately' high levels of dioxin in 25 mozzarella factories. There are fears that the buffalos had eaten grass contaminated with dioxin.

The chemical, can cause skin diseases, cancer, severe weight loss, liver problems, kidney problems, birth defects, reduced resistance to infections and death.

About 106kg of mozzarella cheese was last imported into Singapore on Jan6 this year. But it is not known if the batch imported was contaminated with dioxin, said the AVA.

'The amount of Italian buffalo mozzarella cheese imported was negligible,' said an AVA spokesman. The authority will withhold the sale of all Italian buffalo mozzarella cheese pending lab tests to determine if the cheese has been contaminated.