Italy's food detectives sniff out the fraud trail

[Food Network Fan]

Italy's food detectives sniff out the fraud trail

By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer 18 minutes ago

Inspector Giorgio Capovani laid out his array of cheese impostors.
A wedge of "Parmesansan" made in Lithuania, a container of "Parmazano Fiorentino" produced in Britain and labeled "dairy free," a chunk of German "Parmezano" sold in Mexico.
The motley assortment of long-expired cheese products he keeps in a refrigerator is proof that rip-offs know no borders nor limits to the imagination. And it's not just cheese. Hams too can be suspect. And basil. And vinegar.
Capovani, whose rotund belly could rival a huge wheel of the cheese officially titled Parmigiano-Reggiano, belongs to a growing breed of food detectives sought out by producers of Italian foods that have earned prestigious European Union protection.


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