BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The European Union ordered Italy on Thursday to take "urgent measures" to make sure mozzarella tainted with dioxin does not end up on store shelves, warning that otherwise it would impose an EU-wide ban on the popular cheese.

The European Commission said Italian health officials had not taken sufficient steps to guard against health problems, such as recalling potentially tainted cheese or doing enough monitoring of affected farms in the Campania region.

The scare involves only mozzarella from the Naples area, which is in a months-old crisis over garbage collection and disposal that has fueled fears of food contamination. But the EU's warning covers all of Campania, the southern farm region where the soft, milky cheese is made.

Many experts have said no direct link has been established between the garbage problem and the contamination of cheese, which involves samples being found with higher concentrations of the toxic chemical dioxin than allowed under EU food safety rules.

Dioxin, which occurs naturally but is also a byproduct of some manufacturing processes, is best known for causing skin disfigurement but has been linked to cancer, birth defects and organ failure. It can be dangerous even in small amounts.

The European Commission, the administrative body of the EU, complained that "no recall of products potentially contaminated has been carried out" by Italy. It also said surveillance of affected farms was "too limited."

"Therefore, the Commission has requested the Italian competent authority to take further urgent measures," its statement said.

EU spokeswoman Nina Papadoulaki warned that the EU might consider a full ban on mozzarella sales. "If we don't get everything that we want ... we will see whether further or any measures need to be taken," she said.

She also said that while the contamination exceeded EU standards, "it was not excessive."

In Rome, Health Ministry officials insisted Italy was complying with all EU rules.

Italian officials said Wednesday they had temporarily shut down production at more than 80 cattle farms after detecting higher-than-permitted levels of dioxin in 25 mozzarella-making facilities out of 130 checked.

They said the dioxin was likely coming from contaminated cow feed.

The milk is being destroyed and authorities are carrying out further checks on farms in southern Italy to determine how the feed got contaminated, the officials said.

Earlier this year, Naples health authorities began screening residents for dioxin amid accusations that toxic garbage was being dumped illegally by Mafia-controlled garbage haulers. It is not clear if toxic garbage has played any role in the mozzarella contamination.

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