BRUSSELS - The European Commission said Thursday that Italy is not doing enough to keep contaminated mozzarella off the market and threatened an embargo on cheeses made of buffalo milk.

"The commission believes that the measures put in place are not sufficient to ensure that no contaminated product enters the market," a statement said.

The European Union's executive arm said this was because "no recall of product potentially contaminated has been carried out and the surveillance programme on the farms of the Campania region is still too limited".

Italy produces 33,000 tonnes of mozzarella per year, some 80 percent of it in the southern region of Campania, where a quarter of a million buffalo are farmed to produce the milk for the product.

Italian authorities said last week that high levels of dioxin, which increases the risk of cancer, were found in 66 buffalo herds around the city of Naples.

Brussels called on Italy "to take further urgent measures".

"If it considers this further action as inadequate, the commission will consider proposing safeguard measures for dairy products originating from the region of Campania," the statement said.

Most health experts quoted by the Italian media have said that the raised levels do not constitute a danger to health, but domestic sales have already fallen by 30 to 35 percent, according to the body that oversees the product.

Officials have previously said the contamination is probably linked to the Naples region's chronic waste disposal problems, which saw thousands of tonnes of rubbish left undisposed of in past months.

Earlier Thursday, a commission spokeswoman said the possible measures could run from a recall of concerned products from the EU market to "a complete ban" on imports to other EU countries.

- AFP /ls