Buffalo Mozzarella Discovered to Have Cow's Milk

ROME, Jan. 20, 2010 -- "Scandaloso!" Italians were upset to discover that their favorite mozzarella cheese -- Mozzarella di Bufala, made from buffalo's milk -- was being watered down with cow's milk.

Widely recognized as the best, buffalo mozzarella is made only in central Italy, in the area between Naples and Rome, and only using the rich milk of the Asian water buffalo. A government sampling of cheeses across Italy revealed, however, that 25 percent of the cheeses tested also included milk from dairy cows -- less expensive, but also less rich.

On Tuesday, the Italian Minister for Agriculture, Luca Zaia, suspended the president of the consortium of buffalo mozzarella producers and replaced him temporarily with a commission to guarantee the quality of the cheese. Even he had watered down his cheese.

"I placed the consortium under the appointed administration after inspections found that even the consortium's president was watering down his buffalo milk with cow's milk," Zaia said.

"In November, controls made in leading supermarkets found that 25 percent of the cheese sold as buffalo mozzarella was fake because it contained 30 percent cow milk."

Zaia said the cheese is perfectly safe and good to eat, but it does not live up to the rigid standards for the product.

The head of the consortium, Luigi Chianese, vigorously denied diluting his buffalo milk, and said that the results of the tests had to be confirmed. He said it was "inconceivable" that 25 percent of buffalo mozzarella was found to contain cow's milk.

"What consumers are putting on their tables is real buffalo mozzarella," Chianese told the ANSA news agency. "This is just an administrative matter that has no repercussions for people's health."

But Zaia said that he wanted "to apply zero tolerance for those who are fraudulent in commerce, or who, in any case, deceive consumers."

"Over the past two years my zero tolerance policy has led to the discovery of many causes of food fraud," he said.