Rome ? Italian police confiscated some 70,000 balls of mozzarella in Turin after consumers noticed the milky-white cheese quickly developed a bluish tint when the package was opened.

Agriculture Minister Giancarlo Calan ordered ministry laboratories to investigate what he called a disturbing development.

State TV said Saturday that a customer called police after noticing the mozzarella, made in Germany for an Italian company, turned blue after contact with air, and that several merchants in Turin received similar complaints about the cheese.

TV said samples were also sent to laboratories that normally deal with anti-doping testing in sport to see if they can detect any foreign substances.