Italy has recalled from shops and supermarkets some mozzarella cheese produced near Naples which is suspected of being contaminated by toxic waste. The BBC correspondent David Willey has the story from Rome:

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Genuine mozzarella cheese - made only from buffalo milk - is produced mainly in the Naples area. It's a huge and profitable business, employing twenty-thousand people and with a turnover of nearly five-hundred-million dollars a year.

The Italian authorities are engaged in a massive damage-limitation exercise after tests showed that a very small number of mozzarella producers were selling contaminated cheese. Dioxin, which can cause cancer, was detected in quantities above those permitted by EC rules.

Mozzarella producers have been panicking after a drastic fall in sales this year. A deputy health minister scoffed down huge slices of mozzarella at a news conference in Rome organized earlier this week to publicize what the authorities claim is the minimal danger to public health from this latest food scare.

David Willey, BBC News, Rome

Listen to the words

withdrawal
taking out, removing, recall

pending the results of further tests
while waiting for what more tests will show

halted sales of
stopped selling

profitable business
business that brings a lot of money even after paying the costs of production and selling

turnover
the amount of business that a company does in a period of time (in this case, a year)

are engaged in a massive damage-limitation exercise
here, are doing everything they can to stop mozzarella cheese losing its good reputation

contaminated
containing unwanted, harmful substances

detected
found, discovered

a drastic fall in sales
a lot less cheese has been selling

scoffed down
ate quickly and eagerly

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