What do these two have in common apart from being sticky when baked at high temperature? Well, there's international concern about the safety of Italy's famous buffalo mozzarella cheese, a product that is manufactured almost entirely in the Campania region around Naples. Concerns were expressed from both South Korea and Japan (big importers) to the point of having it banned for the time being. Tests showed that excessive levels of dioxin were found in the fabled cheese by Italian health officials last week. What's more, the European commission confirmed yesterday that health commissioner Androula Vassiliou had asked the Italian authorities to provide information with regards to the tests. Italy produces 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella per year, some 80 percent of it in Campania, where a quarter of a million buffalo are farmed to produce milk for the product.
Update: France has now banned all mozzarella coming from the Campania region. Just saw that on France 24.
How does the Mafia figure into this? European environmentalists have argued for some time that the rubbish crisis that had afflicted the Campania region since 1994 (yes, since then) would eventually have a serious impact on the region's agricultural products. The Neapolitan Mafia, the "camorra", is believed (or should I say alleged?) to have had a major responsibility for the rubbish crisis since it has long operated huge scale illegal dumping (a lot of it being industrial toxic waste) in and around Naples. Scientists have shown that the dioxin poisons have entered the water and poisoned the land. To make matters worse, yesterday the health ministry confirmed that no less than 83 farms in Campania have been quarantined because of high levels of dioxin were found. The Italian government has moved to quell fears that buffalo mozzarella is not safe to eat.
The rubbish crisis had reached a new peak when over the Christmas period the entire region was swamped with tonnes of uncollected refuse, as the local authorities claimed they had nowhere to dump given the fact that all rubbish pits were filled to capacity.
Although some government officials tried to play down the problem, sales of buffalo mozzarella have dropped 40 to 60 % while tourism operators have complained of a serious loss of business over the rubbish crisis. Where's Don Corleone when you need him to rectify the problem?
I would recommend that, for the time being, you should switch from buffalo mozzarella made in Italy to one that is manufactured elsewhere, and although it will never be the same quality, it will be safer. And when ordering a pizza, ask for the provenance of the cheese!
Update: The European Commission has warned Italy to step up its response to a contaminated mozzarella cheese scare or face a ban on the delicacy across Europe.