Sicilian butchers, alarmed at a dramatic drop in sales following the mad cow disease scare, handed out free packages of Italian beef yesterday to show it is safe to eat.
"This isn't an emergency, it's a calamity," the secretary of the Sicilian chapter of the Confesercenti butchers' association said. "Our sales have dropped like never before, in the area of 75 per cent."
Mr Constantino Garraffa said butchers gave away 3,528 lb of Italian beef in Palermo's Castelnuovo square to show their meat is safe.