Made in Italy: Zaia launches the fight against adulterations from New York

In New York the Italian Secretary for Agriculture Luca Zaia launched a new and aggressive crusade against counterfeit food continuing to damage more and more, made- in- Italy products, from wines to cheese through olive oil. Zaia, the Secretary for Agriculture presenting this initiative to the press in New York, has explained that ‘the Italian government is really angry because among ten made- in- Italy products, nine have nothing to do with Italy’. The minister has also met the General Secretary of the United Nations Ban ki-moon; and on that occasion he reminded that the Italian food export, € 24 milliard worth, is going on its growth in this moment of crisis, despite all the difficulties. According to Zaia the damage of counterfeiting, often through the so-called “Italian sounding” foods (that is to say products made similar to Italian ones) is not only economic, even though it reaches 200 milliard value. There is also a problem of health because too often “the ones who think to eat Italian-style, do not eat healthy”. The fight against food adulterations focuses on two axes: the international agreements sheltering the granted denominations, which have to be supported by several initiatives to educate and inform the consumer.