Italian police seize fake 'Made in Italy' tomato puree

(Amends headline to remove repetition)

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's border police said on Thursday they had seized more than 42 tonnes of tomato puree falsely labelled as 'Made in Italy', which had entered the country via Bulgaria.     

One of the world's leading tomato sauce producers, Italy has in the past been embroiled in controversy over the mislabelling of tomato paste imported from China. 

Italian officers seized the tomato sauce in two separate operations after stopping two trucks coming from Bulgaria during checks at the port of Brindisi in the southeast, the Guardia di Finanza police said in a statement.

It was not clear whether the tomato puree originated from Bulgaria or from another country, they added.

The seized shipments were intended for two Italian companies known for "Made in Italy" tomato products, the Guardia di Finanza said. 

It did not disclose the names of the companies.    

The alleged fraud would have generated hundreds of thousands of euros in illicit profits and posed a potential risk to public health, "since the presence of contaminants banned by EU legislation cannot be ruled out", the police statement added. 

"Consumers would have thought they were buying a product from Italy, but who knows what they would have eaten," Colonel Emilio Fiora, commander of the Brindisi unit of the Guardia di Finanza, told Reuters. 

(Reporting by Sara Rossi, editing by Alvise Armellini)