In 2015 alone, there was a 379% increase in imports of concentrated tomato sauce from China.
From Lithuanian mozzarella to Chinese concentrated sauce, Tunisian olive oil to Canadian wheat: almost two out of every three pizzas served in Italy are made with a mix of ingredients sourced from thousands of miles away.
The data was presented in a report by the National Confederation of Direct Cultivators (Coldiretti, in its Italian acronym) this Wednesday (20) at an event to defend the Mediterranean diet in Naples.
Pizza is responsible for a turnover of around 10 billion euros in Italy, where five million pizzas are devoured every day – for a total of 1,8 billion pizzas per year. In terms of ingredients, according to Coldiretti, 200 thousand tons of flour, 225 thousand tons of mozzarella, 30 thousand tons of olive oil and 260 thousand tons of tomato sauce are consumed.
According to the document, in 2015, there was a 379% increase in imports of concentrated tomato sauce from China, reaching 67 thousand tons, which is equivalent to 10% of Italian production of fresh tomatoes. The number has practically quintupled in recent years and, due to a loophole in the law, some of them end up being considered Italian because the legislation requires identifying the place of production and not of cultivation.
“At a difficult time for the Italian economy, it is necessary to invest in transparency and introduce, without hesitation, an obligation to indicate the origin of food on the label, as 96,5% of Italians requested in the online public consultation on the origin of agri-food products held by the Ministry of Agricultural Policies”, said the president of Coldiretti, Roberto Moncalvo.
For the entity's leader, the request for UNESCO to recognize pizza as a world heritage site could increase the pressure to identify products.
“Recognition from UNESCO would have extraordinary value for Italy, which is the country where food culture is most deeply rooted and pizza represents a symbol of national identity. It is clear that guaranteeing the national origin of ingredients means defending a part of our history, but also its differentiation in confrontations with unfair competition”, he highlights.
In numbers, there was a 279% increase in imports of olive oil from Tunisia (90 thousand tons) while there was a 17% increase in dairy products destined for industrial transformation.
Among the “transformations”, there is above all the curd coming from Lithuania and destined to produce mozzarella without any indication of the real origin on the labels. In kilos, this increase represents almost 10 thousand tons, equivalent to 10% of milk production in Italy.
The first data from 2016 follow in the same direction and also point to an increase in wheat imports, with an increase in imports of a thousand tons. According to the report, half of the dishes sold in Italy use imported wheat.
According to Coldiretti, in particular, the Campania region was the main destination for Chinese sauce and industrialized curds.
By: Handle
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