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German Cheese Is Dangerous
Police said on Saturday they had raided a cheese factory in southern Germany that they suspected may have been involved in selling out-of-date cheese linked to a case being investigated in Italy.
Italian media reported on Friday that financial police in the northern city of Cremona had uncovered large amounts of rotting cheese which was being mixed with fresh cheese and sold onto the market in Italy and Europe.
Police searched the factory in the southern German town of Woringen on Friday, police spokesman Christian Owsinski said.
"We don't know yet if it really is a food scandal," he added. "We still need to verify this."
Police took food samples from the Woringen factory for laboratory testing, the results of which would be known in the middle of next week. They also took documents, Owsinski said, adding that the general manager was an Italian citizen.
"As to whether or not the company is involved in a network, we can't say for sure at the moment but we are continuing our investigations," Owsinski said.
Earlier this year, several countries briefly banned Italian buffalo mozzarella due to fears it was tainted with dioxins.
A German cheese factory has been ordered to suspend sales amid a wider inquiry into claims that mouldy Italian cheese had been passed off as new, police said Saturday.
The allegations emerged Friday in Italy, but it is not yet known if that case has any link to a visit by police Friday to the German cheese company's premises at Woringen on the northern slopes of the Alps.
Police in Kempten said documents were seized and cheese samples examined, but it would not be known until next week if any wrongdoing had been found.
"Current allegations against the firm in the media can be neither confirmed nor denied," a police statement said.
Stale cheese scandal?
A group of corrupt cheese merchants in Italy had been processing condemned cheese so that it appeared and tasted new, according to this week's Italian news reports. But Rome says this is stale news, according to Berlin produce-safety officials on Saturday.
A consumer-affairs ministry spokesman said Germany's senior veterinarian had telephoned his Italian counterpart and was told it had all happened two years ago.
"We asked them to send us a report on it all the same," said a spokeswoman.
She said the inquiry in Woringen was an important precaution, but Germany must now wait for the findings.
Germany disclosed this week that it was the world's biggest cheese exporter last year.
Italian media reported on Friday that financial police in the northern city of Cremona had uncovered large amounts of rotting cheese which was being mixed with fresh cheese and sold onto the market in Italy and Europe.
Police searched the factory in the southern German town of Woringen on Friday, police spokesman Christian Owsinski said.
"We don't know yet if it really is a food scandal," he added. "We still need to verify this."
Police took food samples from the Woringen factory for laboratory testing, the results of which would be known in the middle of next week. They also took documents, Owsinski said, adding that the general manager was an Italian citizen.
"As to whether or not the company is involved in a network, we can't say for sure at the moment but we are continuing our investigations," Owsinski said.
Earlier this year, several countries briefly banned Italian buffalo mozzarella due to fears it was tainted with dioxins.
A German cheese factory has been ordered to suspend sales amid a wider inquiry into claims that mouldy Italian cheese had been passed off as new, police said Saturday.
The allegations emerged Friday in Italy, but it is not yet known if that case has any link to a visit by police Friday to the German cheese company's premises at Woringen on the northern slopes of the Alps.
Police in Kempten said documents were seized and cheese samples examined, but it would not be known until next week if any wrongdoing had been found.
"Current allegations against the firm in the media can be neither confirmed nor denied," a police statement said.
Stale cheese scandal?
A group of corrupt cheese merchants in Italy had been processing condemned cheese so that it appeared and tasted new, according to this week's Italian news reports. But Rome says this is stale news, according to Berlin produce-safety officials on Saturday.
A consumer-affairs ministry spokesman said Germany's senior veterinarian had telephoned his Italian counterpart and was told it had all happened two years ago.
"We asked them to send us a report on it all the same," said a spokeswoman.
She said the inquiry in Woringen was an important precaution, but Germany must now wait for the findings.
Germany disclosed this week that it was the world's biggest cheese exporter last year.