AFTER BLUE MOZZARELLA, RED RICOTTA SPARKS SCARE

AFTER BLUE MOZZARELLA, RED RICOTTA SPARKS SCARE

(ANSA) - Rome, July 29 - After 'blue mozzarella' sparked a major health scare in Italy last month, a new alarm has been stirred by the case of some red ricotta cheese.

The red ricotta was discovered by a 33-year-old housewife from the Sardinian town of Olbia on Tuesday after she had bought the packet the day before at a discount supermarket.

''It was covered in a pinky-red mould-like film,'' the woman, who preferred not to be named and is especially careful about what she eats as she is seven-months pregnant, told ANSA.

''The packet was well sealed so air couldn't have got in. When I opened it, as well as the colour, I was also alarmed by the acrid smell the ricotta gave off''.

The woman immediately alerted the police, who seized the batch the packet belonged to, along with others on Sardinia.

They are making checks nationwide to see if there are other similar cases and the ricotta has been sent to laboratories for tests to try to establish why it was red.

Police stressed though that no one had been harmed by the red cheese.

''Now we'll wait for the test results and then I'll go to a consumer protection association,'' added the woman. ''It's necessary to get to the bottom of this, because it's a question of our health''.

The ricotta was produced in Italy, unlike the mozzarellas made by Germany's Milchwerk Jaeger, which turned an unsightly inky blue after being opened and were found in 14 different European countries after being first discovered in Turin.

The European Union blocked Milchwerk Jaeger from doing business for a month until it was satisfied the problem had been solved.

Italian farmers staged protests following that scare, saying the case reflected a deeper problem of typical Italian products being made outside the country to lower standards.

Many of these products are given Italian-sounding names, which the farmers say trick consumers into thinking they are made in Italy.