(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission expressed satisfaction Friday with Italian authorities' reaction to a dioxin-tainted mozzarella scare, and said it currently saw no need for further EU action.

"The commission is satisfied with the progress made," spokeswoman for health issues Nina Papadoulaki told journalists in Brussels after Rome decided to begin recalling dioxin-tainted mozzarella from the market.

"There is no reason at this stage to take further action at the EU level," she said.

On Thursday, the European Union's executive arm said that Italy's reaction to the scare had been insufficient and raised the prospect of an import ban on mozzarella made of buffalo milk from Italy's southern Campania region.

Following that threat, Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said in Rome Friday that the government would "take steps agreed with the European Union" to recall contaminated products and reassure consumers.

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.

A total of 83 buffalo farms in the Naples region were quarantined.

Italian authorities have said that no tainted mozzarella has been exported and that the dioxin levels did not pose an immediate health threat.

"There is no immediate health risk from mozzarella as dioxin levels that were found in this particular case were not excessive," Papadoulaki also said.

"In general, as long as you don't eat a relatively high level of dioxin over a long period it cannot cause much harm," she added.

Although there was no immediate risk to humans, commission spokesman Michael Mann for agriculture issues said that the products had to be pulled because they nevertheless exceeded EU limits.

"The bottom line is there is mozzarella out there or that has been that exceeds the limits," he said. "That's the law and we have to abide by the law and that's why it's being withdrawn from sales."

Despite official assurances that there is no immediate health risk, the case has prompted fears of a new food safety scare taking hold of Europe.

Japan and South Korea have already banned mozzarella imports and France has ordered shops to stop selling the cheese while the Belgian food safety authorities are tightening their controls as a precaution.

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