The Italian Slow Food movement, which dates back to 1997, has responded angrily to a letter from the European Commission asking for it to abolish the national law banning the use of “milk powder, condensed milk and reconstituted milk” in the manufacture of dairy products.

According to Brussels, the current Italian law prohibiting these milk surrogates represents a “restriction on the free movement of goods.”

Slow Food in Italy has responded to the letter by saying this imposition is not only wrong and detrimental to the protection of biodiversity, but Italy should in fact become an example for quality European cheesemaking.

"We need to work towards greater awareness at a European level, with the aim of bringing the laws of other countries in line with the Italian legislation," said Piero Sardo, President of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity.

Sardo said he hopes the Italian government will defend this law, and added that if this new demand is accepted, "Italy’s quality dairy sector, already crushed by too-low milk prices and the challenges facing those who farm in the mountains, will suffer severe consequences."

Sardo continued by saying that Slow Food has been fighting for years to promote raw-milk cheeses, mountain cheesemaking, traditional techniques and native breeds. He said the movement's commitment dates back to the first edition of Cheese, in 1997, "when we began gathering signatures on a petition in favor of raw milk, which was then delivered to the European institutions."

He stressed that Cheese 2015, held in Bra in September 2015 will be an opportunity for the best producers in the world to join Slow Food in the fight against this "latest absurdity" and to "work towards the Italian example being extended to the rest of Europe."