Salus whaet analysis Barilla: "pasta Voiello is made with 100% italian aureo wheat"
1 March 2017
With reference to the analyses carried out by the Grano Salus Association on some samples of industrial pasta samples, including Voiello and Barilla pasta, which would show the presence of traces of contaminants like Don, Glyphosate and Cadmium, far below the legal limits, the Barilla Group objects the serious inaccuracy by Grano Salus, which harms the reputation of the world’s largest pasta manufacturer, as well as the reputation of all Italian pasta makers.
Barilla also points out that it had never been contacted by Grano Salus in any form. Furthermore, it has serious doubts on the reliability of the analyses since no information on the sampling and testing methods used is available.
Grano Salus maintains that the presence of minimum traces of contaminants, far below the legal limits, found in the samples of Barilla and Voiello pasta, is evidence of the fact that also Voiello, in addition to the Barilla brand, uses foreign durum wheat.
This statement is false.
Voiello pasta is made exclusively with 100% Italian Aureo durum wheat. This variety has a very high pasta making quality, which ensures the excellence of technological parameters, such as a protein content of 15.5% and the gluten strength, which make it a “Top Quality” variety.
Aureo wheat is mainly seeded in the most suitable areas for the production of durum wheat in the regions of Abruzzo, Molise, Apulia, Basilicata and in the province of Benevento and it is then milled in the Altamura mill. It is grown by selected farmers who have signed cultivation contracts with Barilla to grow high quality and sustainable wheat. The presence of traces of residues found in the samples of Voiello pasta tested cannot therefore be attributed to the use of foreign wheat, as Grano Salus implies.
At the same time, we would like to point out that the pasta bearing the Barilla brand is made from a blend of the best Italian (about 70%) and foreign (about 30%) wheat. We do it because Italy is not self-sufficient for the production of quality wheat and it is therefore necessary to import foreign top quality wheat to improve the blend of semolina used, and thus to protect the renown of Italian pasta.
It is thus unacceptable to imply in commenting the tests, as Grano Salus does, that Italian pasta makers would blend wheat that breaches limits and with compliant one. This is forbidden by the European legislation, which both Barilla and, in general, all Italian pasta makers comply with.
Barilla is furthermore strongly committed to enhancing the pasta Italian supply chain through its new three-year cultivation contracts for durum wheat signed with Italian growers. This is a very important investment of the Parma Group to produce high quality durum wheat using sustainable methods. Indeed, cultivation is performed reducing the use of fertilisers and pesticides to the minimum thanks to growing techniques that ensure an optimisation of the growers’ choices, as shown on the website granoduro.net.
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