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Violence flares up at Naples dump ... affected cheese is made from buffalo milk in the Campania region, near Naples.

Dioxins, which can cause cancer, have been found at higher than permitted levels at some mozzarella producers.

The EU has told Italy to take more food safety measures. UK officials say there is no immediate risk to UK consumers.

The European Commission warned Italy on Thursday to take further urgent action, or risk a ban on exports of the cheese from the Campania region.

Italy says it has traced the farms at the source of the contamination, and destroyed their milk.

Japan and South Korea have already imposed an import ban on the cheese.

Suspect rubbish dumps

Italian officials told the European Commission that 130 mozzarella production sites had been checked and dioxins above the EU limit were found at 25 of them.

Eating pieces of the cheese for the cameras, the Italian Agriculture Minister, Paolo De Castro, told journalists there was no health risk, and blamed the scare on a media frenzy.

The contamination emerged last week, when buffalo herds in the Naples area showed milk contamination after spot checks.

Police are investigating whether feed given to herds around the city of Naples was tainted.

It is believed the cause is toxic waste, illegally dumped by criminals on agricultural land used for pasture.

Mozzarella is big business in Italy, with herds of a quarter of a million buffalo producing a total of 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella cheese each year, 16% of which is exported.

(BBC)

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