31 October 2026 · 5 min
Mozzarella Dop: 60 hours count when every step has a time
Inside the batch
To prove it, you must be able to date the first and last moment of that time.
Exteryo Report Editorial Team
The Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop specification gives 60 hours from milking to processing, and the hauliers' strike puts them to the test.
The short answer
Three traces linked to the same batch are needed:
- Milkingwith date, time and farm
- Transportwith dated and localised collection and delivery
- Processingwith the time of entry into the dairy
The short answer
When the three traces are read together, the time limit becomes verifiable proof.
Why it is not simple
It is enough for the dairy to declare that it processed the milk on time.
There is more.
Why it is not simple
When lorries slow down on motorways, ports and logistics centres, the supply chain lengthens and fragments: a final declaration does not tell where the milk waited.
Why it is not simple
When lorries slow down on motorways, ports and logistics centres, the supply chain lengthens and fragments: a final declaration does not tell where the milk waited.
Why it is not simple
A trace is needed that follows the batch step by step and that controllers can read back.
Chapter 1 of 4
How do you prove that the milk was processed within 60 hours of milking?
The time limit
The 60-hour limit is a rule of the specification: milk that complies with it remains raw material for the Dop.
Before moving on
Within how many hours of milking must milk be processed for Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop?
The source
The Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop specification requires milk to be processed within 60 hours of milking; once this deadline has passed, it can no longer be used for the Dop, as reported by Gambero Rosso on buffalo milk stuck on farms.
The two extremes
The time limit has two extremes: the time of milking and the time of processing.
1 of 2
The time of milking
2 of 2
The time of processing
The time limit
If both are recorded on the batch, the hours are counted in an instant and can be redone at every check.
What to record
- MilkingDate and time, farm
- ProcessingDate and time, dairy
Chapter 2 of 4
Which steps of the supply chain must be recorded, at what time and in what place?
The steps
Every step where the milk changes hands or location deserves a time and a position. That is where time accumulates.
The source
The mobilisation began on 16 October, mainly in Sicily and Calabria, and has spread to Campania, Puglia and other areas of the South; pickets at motorways, ports and logistics centres are slowing down deliveries, according to Gambero Rosso on the lorry drivers' strike.
The steps
In Campania, many dairies have stopped making mozzarella and the milk remains on the farms because the lorries cannot deliver it. Recording where the milk stops allows you to know how many of the 60 hours have already passed.
The steps
- Milkingdate, time, farm
- Collectiontime and place of loading
- Stopswhere and for how long
- Delivery and processingtime of entry into the dairy
Chapter 3 of 4
Who can verify the date of milking and processing, and with what register?
An Exteryo case
In public asset inspections, the report is only unlocked by scanning the tag in front of the asset and the system records GPS position and time, as shown in our case on certified on-site inspections.
The register
The same principle can be applied to milk: a record linked to an identified container, with time and place written automatically, gives the Consortium and control bodies a register to consult.
The register
A record is valid when it is created on the spot, at the moment the event happens.
1 of 2
An identified container
2 of 2
Time and place written automatically
Tap the card
What does technology do on the batch?
What does technology do on the batch?
The register
Then whoever checks reads it back instead of reconstructing it.
Chapter 4 of 4
How is the specification documented, batch by batch, during a transport crisis?
Batch by batch
When transport slows down, the trace of the batch tells precisely which milk remains Dop. It is a useful certainty for those who produce and those who buy.
The source
The Protection Consortium has reported the closure of numerous dairies and an increasing difficulty in finding the product in supermarkets; according to Reuters, the Rummo pasta factory has also suspended production due to a lack of raw materials, reports Gambero Rosso.
Note
«Farmers continue to milk the buffaloes, but they do not know where to store the milk», explained Pier Maria Saccani, director of the Consortium.
Batch by batch
The Government has announced new aid for hauliers, while some protesters have proposed continuing at least until 27 October. In this phase, a batch with documented times is allocated clearly.
In one sentence
The 60 hours become a guarantee when the clock starts at milking and is read on the batch.
Exteryo Report
Takeaway
The batch of Dop milk, step by step. Five records that make the 60-hour time limit verifiable.
0 of 5 checked
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Sources
- Gambero Rosso on buffalo milk stuck on farmsgamberorosso.it↗
- The Exteryo case on certified on-site inspectionsexteryo.com↗
Images and animations: illustrative objects generated with artificial intelligence. They do not depict real objects or documents mentioned in the article.
ExteryoExteryo Report · 31 October 2026