2010-06-28 18:21

'Blue mozzarella' producer faces EU block

Commission wants sales stopped till it is sure problem is solved

(ANSA) - Rome, June 28 - The German company that produced the 'blue mozzarella' which sparked alarm among Italian consumers should be stopped from selling its goods until the problem is definitely solved, the European Union said Monday.

The blue mozzarella was first discovered earlier this month by a Turin housewife, who saw the cheese she bought at a supermarket turn an unsightly inky blue minutes after it was opened.

The discovery led to an order from health officials to seize some 70,000 similar packages of the German version of the famed Italian cheese, made by Milchwerk Jaeger and distributed in Italy by two discount chains.

Since then the blue mozzarella, which tests suggest probably changes colour because of a natural, non-toxic bacteria, pseudomonas fluorescens, in the water used to preserve it, has been found in 14 different European countries. ''The European Commission has decided to send a letter to the German health authorities to ensure that no dairy product of the Milchwerk Jaeger company be put on the market,'' Frederic Vincent, the spokesman for European Health Commissioner John Dalli, told ANSA. Vincent added that the sales block will be in force ''until we have official notification that the cause of the contamination has been eliminated''. Milchwerk Jaeger's owner Hermann Jaeger said the EU move was wrong as the problem has already been solved.

''This request is unjustified in my opinion,'' he told ANSA.

''The European Commission were happy with our company last Thursday and Friday when they came to visit us. ''The problem does not exist any more as they have seen.

The problem only regarded mozzarellas, not any other products. ''I'm surprised. I can't explain this decision,'' he said, adding that he hoped the authorities in Germany would not grant the Commission's request.

THE HORSE HAS BOLTED Italian farmers union Coldiretti, in contrast, welcomed the move, while stressing it was like ''shutting the stable door when the horse has bolted''.

''Structural measures are needed, starting with the obligation to state a product's origin on the label,'' it said. Jaeger said last week that the problem with pseudomonas fluorescens may have been caused by the water used for packaging being contaminated by a factory near one of his plants. Clinical tests done so far on the mozzarella have not revealed any toxic substances or harmful bacteria.

Prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Trento have opened a criminal probe into the case and the European Union has also started an investigation in conjunction with the Italian and Germany authorities. According to microbiologist Michele La Placa, pseudomonas bacteria is a problem for hospitals because it can multiply in the stagnant water of flowers brought to patients.

''Once again a falsified, foreign product has arrived on Italian tables presenting a potentially serious health risk which will certainly hurt the national economy.''

Commenti in italiano.

Il caso della Mozzarella Blu sta dilagando, creando panico in tutta Italia. Dopo aver ingerito alcune mozzarelle blu assieme a due suoi assistenti nella pausa pranzo delle prove di "Wozzek" a Madrid, il regista spagnolo Calixto Bieito ha notato , specchiandosi, un evidente cambiamento del suo naturale colorito ed è corso in ospedale. "Non mi sento a disagio,ha dichiarato Bieito alla stampa, " il blu mi dona e credo che d'ora in poi manterrò questo look. Dicono che come regista faccio vedere i sorci verdi, bene...da adesso saranno sorci blu."

Di diverso avviso il tenore Walter Fraccaro e il soprano Kerstin Lewis, i quali si sono ritrovati completamente blu nell'ultimo atto di Aida, dopo una caprese sospetta:"Il guaio è che questo colore non va via, se non dopo una settimana di dieta.Mia moglie mi scambia ormai per un puffo!", così ha detto Fraccaro, visibilmente contrariato.

Da ricordare un'altra celebre Aida, quella veronese firmata Pier Luigi Pizzi, completamente blu. Abbiamo raggiunto telefonicamente il maestro Pizzi ad Abu Dabi, dove si trova per allestire il "Ratto dal serraglio" di Mozart, e gli abbiamo chiesto se la mozzarella e la sua Aida avessero punti di contatto. "Sì, certo" , ha risposto Pizzi, " ora posso confessarlo, l'idea venne dopo aver saputo dello strano fenomeno e delle infinite possibilità del Blu. Del resto, scusate, Radames non canta forse Celeste Aida all'inizio dell'opera? Una Blue Aida non stona affatto!".

Produced by Mirabilia