ROME Italian health authorities and producers of mozzarella tried to reassure consumers that an outbreak of brucellosis in buffalo and the pile-up of rubbish in Naples were not tainting the milk used in the cheese. Farmers say that sales of the cheese, from buffalo in the Campania region around Naples, had already dropped 40 per cent because of the rubbish crisis, left, when stories emerged about brucellosis. The bacteria that cause the disease spread through contaminated or unpasteurised milk and can infect humans, causing fever.

“We have seen a decrease in the consumption of fresh mozzarella,” Mahua Reset, a Rome restaurateur, said. “But it looks like nobody is worried about mozzarella on pizzas, because consumption of pizza has increased.”

Authorities say that controls already in place prevent infected milk from reaching cheese producers. However, a new commissioner is to supervise the slaughter of between 30,000 and 60,000 buffalo of a total herd of 400,000 and pay farmers millions of euros in compensation.

Mozzarella has been produced in Campania since the 12th century. The name comes from the verb mozzare, the traditional method of using thumb and forefinger to shape the ropes of soft cheese. (Reuters)

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