Journal of Food Quality 27 (2004) 428–435. All Rights Reserved. 428 © Copyright 2004, Blackwell Publishing DETECTION OF COW MILK IN BUFFALO “MOZZARELLA” BY POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR) ASSAY ANGELA DI PINTO 1 , MARIA CHIARA CONVERSANO, VITO TONY FORTE, LUCIA NOVELLO and GIUSEPPINA MARILIA TANTILLO Università degli Studi – Bari Dipartimento di Sanità e Benessere degli Animali Provinciale per Casamassima km 3 70010 Valenzano – Bari Italy Accepted for Publication January 22, 2004 ABSTRACT The authors used a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay on buffalo mozzarella, a typical Italian dairy product, from the Apulia markets to eval- uate the presence of cow milk and verification of the mozzarella label. The results obtained from 30 mozzarella samples demonstrated the presence of the cow genome in 22/30 samples, highlighting contamination as probable fraud- ulent adding of cow’s milk or use of the same equipments in both working cycles. INTRODUCTION “Mozzarella”, most widespread as a typical Italian dairy product, is a stretched-curd cheese produced entirely from buffalo milk. It is characterized by a stringy texture, porcelain-white color and possesses an extremely thin rind and delicate taste due to traditional manufacturing practices, a raw milk flavor and the micro flora involved. Buffalo mozzarella cheese is now prima- rily produced in Latium, Campania and Apulia and it represents 10.7% of national production of “pasta filata” cheese. Strategist for the protection of dairy products foresee action to guaran- tee quality by analysis of raw material, composition, biological components, structure and processing procedure. A Protection Association, founded in 1993 (DPCM 10/05/1993) and representative of 95 producers localized in Blackwell Science, LtdOxford, UKJFQJournal of Food Quality0146-9428Copyright 2004 by Food & Nutrition Press, Inc., Trumbull, Connecticut.2004276428435Original Article COW MILK IN BUFFALO MOZZARELLA A. DI PINTO ET AL. 1 Contact author. TEL: +390805443970; FAX: +390805443855; EMAIL: a.dipinto@veterinaria.uniba.it