Last week Japan suspended shipments of buffalo mozzarella from Sicily, after finding traces of dioxin in some of the product they were importing.
The problem can be traced to problems with garbage collection, a service that is controlled by the area's Mafia. The dumps are full and the trash hasn't been getting collected. People have taken to burning the piles that are accumulating in the streets. This adds pollutants to the air, which is breathed by the water buffalos whose milk is used to produce the area's famous mozzarella.
The Italian government and the European government have been pressuring the local garbage agency to to clean up its act. It's an unfortunate business: negative publicity about a product that's so strongly associated with the region's identity.
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