The Italian government is recalling mozzarella cheese contaminated with dioxin, in compliance with an EU demand.
Steps have been agreed with the EU to withdraw products from the market that do not comply with standards.
High levels of dioxins were found in the buffalo milk from Campania, in southern Italy, used to make the famed mozzarella.
France has withdrawn Campania mozzarella from its shelves, as have Japan and South Korea.
Italy produces 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella per year, some 80% of it in Campania, where 250,000 buffalo are farmed to produce milk for the product.
Italian officials have tried to play down health risks after checks found higher than permitted levels of dioxin at nearly one in five producers of buffalo mozzarella from Campania.
Tests have shown that 83 dairy farms in Campania have produced contaminated milk.
Italian officials believe the dioxin levels are linked to a recent garbage crisis in Naples and the surrounding countryside.
Thousands of tonnes of rubbish have not been disposed of in past months.
Italy has pledged to carry out ‘constant monitoring’ of production sites and holdings to ensure that no further cases of mozzarella cheese are found where dioxin levels exceed the EU's maximum permitted levels.
