The authorities are refusing to reveal the name of the transporter that was carrying 200 kilos of locally-produced ricotta in unacceptable temperatures.

They are also keeping under wraps the name of the manufacturing plant to which it was being taken and what the ricotta was being used for.

What is known is that the ricotta was being delivered to a manufacturing plant when it was intercepted by inspectors from the Department for Environmental Health.

A spokesman for the Health Parliamentary Secretariat said the ricotta was in an unrefrigerated vehicle in temperatures of between 13 - 17° C. Dairy products have to be constantly kept at temperatures which are under 8°C.

The department said on Tuesday it investigated a consignment of ricotta intended for a manufacturing plant. This, it said, was sealed and would be destroyed, adding that legal action had been initiated against the offender.

Once ricotta has been used in other products, like ravioli or pastizzi, there is no way consumers would know whether it had been kept in unacceptable temperatures.

The inspection was held a day after the department confirmed that tests on three samples of Benna milk found the presence of a slight bacterial contamination. However, the health authorities insisted the levels of the bacteria - Enterobacteriaceae - found in the milk were not harmful.

The tests were carried out after people complained the milk had gone sour before its expiry date.

Department director John Attard Kingswell has stressed the importance that dairy products are kept at the correct temperature.