Italians distribute free cheese to ease dioxin fears (+video)
5:00AM
Thursday April 03, 2008
Photo / Reuters
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Visitors to the Colosseum in Rome have been treated to one of Italy's most famous delicacies - mozzarella cheese.
The Italian makers of buffalo mozzarella have been trying to put the recent recall of their product behind them by giving tourists free samples.
Italy's Health Ministry withdrew products from 25 companies in the Campania region, where Italy's buffalo mozzarella is produced, following fears the cheese was contaminated with a cancer-causing dioxin.
The health scare has put the Italian mozzarella industry - worth some 300 million euros a year - in jeopardy.
But the historic backdrop of the Colosseum proved a prime location for a steady stream of tourists who were only too happy to sample the cheese.
The plan certainly seems to have worked in Italy, but exports to Japan and South Korea are still banned.
- REUTERS
