Marketers of tomatoes from the Sicilian region around Pachino face a major PR battle this week after a prominent Italian television presenter accused the mafia of controlling the product's trade and pushing up prices.
During an episode of consumer show Occhio alla Spesa aired on the government-controlled channel Rai Uno, presenter Alessandro Di Pietro made the claims and called on viewers to boycott Pachino tomatoes.
By controlling the distribution of Pachino tomatoes throughout Italy, he said, organised criminal groups were reaping the rewards of prices paid by the Italian public, prices he said were 'up to 11 times' what growers were paid.
Giuseppe Nicosia, mayor of nearby Vittoria, reacted angrily: 'The programme has caused irreparable damage to the agricultural sector. I'm launching a campaign against Rai, so boycott them!'
The country's environment minister Stefania Prestigiacomo, who is herself from nearby Siracusa, called on Rai to retract what she called an 'absurd and damaging accusation'.
She also warned that the proposed boycott risked destroying the livelihoods of 5,000 producers 'who have made their cherry tomatoes synonymous with quality around the world'.
But Mr Di Pietro refused to back down, pointing to recent comments made by Italy's anti-mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso in which he suggested the mafia controlled much of the trade in tomatoes from Sicily.
He also underlined his support for EU-certified Pachino tomatoes, for which he said prices were often lower than standard, non-certified versions.
'I defend Pachino, not organised crime,' he commented. 'Prosecutor Grasso and I have always talked about normal Pachino (tomatoes), not PDO-certified Pachino (tomatoes) which are subject to a protocol which offers guarantees to producers and consumers. The mafia doesn't interfere with this type of cherry tomato and, in fact, it costs less than normal Pachino on sale in Italian markets.'
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