MILAN (AP) — As Italy has been plunged into a period of extreme heat, social media accounts amplified and falsified reports about the impact on the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a regional bank that stores the cheese wheels as collateral for loans.
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is made according to strict specifications within defined geographic areas in the Emilia Romagna region of northern Italy. Milk comes from dairy cattle fed only on locally grown forage, and the wheels must be aged for a minimum of 12 months, and can continue to 24, 36 or 40 months.
To help producers manage their capital, a handful of banks accept the cheese wheels as collateral on loans during the aging process — the largest of which is the Credito Emiliano S.p.A’s Magazini Generali delle Tagliate (MGT), which has been operating since 1953.
Social media claimed that the extreme heat that swept Italy threatened both the cheese and its main cheese bank.
Here’s a closer look at the facts.
CLAIM: Extreme heat is creating a “Great Parmesan Crisis” threatening both Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Italy’s “cheese banks,” where hundreds of thousands of wheels of the cheese are stored as loan collateral.
THE FACTS: Fortunately, wheels of the beloved cheese are neatly tucked away in cool storage and aging nicely while the rest of Italy sweats. MGT, which stores 500,000 cheese wheels valued at 300 million euros ($350 million) in two storage facilities, confirmed all is well.
Giancarlo Ravanetti, MGT’s general manager, said the extreme heat had pushed energy consumption to keep the facilities cool up by 30%.
But he said neither the cheese wheels nor MGT’s operations were at risk due to the extreme temperatures, which this summer have regularly neared 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
“The warehouses have not been affected and have continued operating normally, ensuring the cheese wheels are stored and aged under optimal conditions,” he said, adding that he does not anticipate longer-term consequences, even if extreme heat persists in the future.
MGT has been investing for several years to make the warehouses more energy efficient. It has replaced two obsolete refrigeration units with a high-efficiency unit, improved thermal insulation of the buildings and installed photovoltaic systems at both warehouses, reaching an installed capacity of 1.5 MW.
The Parmigiano Reggiano consortium, which protects and regulates the prized hard cheese, acknowledges the “long-standing challenge” of heat waves, as extreme heat can reduce milk production significantly, with “yields potentially falling by around 10%.”
But, the consortium said in a statement that Parmigiano Reggiano production “is not currently at risk.”
It emphasized that cows are mostly fed preserved and dried forage to guarantee supply even during drought. Farms that supply 70% of the milk used to make the cheese are equipped with fans, controlled water-spraying systems and environmental monitoring to keep the cows comfortable. The remaining milk supply comes from hilly and mountain areas where temperatures are generally cooler, the consortium said.
Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
FILE - Parmigiano Reggiano Parmesan cheese wheels are stored in Noceto, near Parma, Italy, Oct. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — At least eight people have died after a three-story building in Brooklyn collapsed at the edge of a construction site, New York City’s mayor said Thursday, as firefighters kept digging through the rubble to find others who may be trapped beneath the wreckage.
The building came down Wednesday afternoon. At least 17 people have been injured, including three firefighters, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.
“There are no words for a loss of this magnitude,” Mamdani posted on X. “My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we have lost, those who are injured and everyone grieving today.”
Scores of firefighters and police officers wielding pickaxes and power saws clambered over the rubble pile overnight, punching holes through the ruins to pull dust-covered people from beneath piles of twisted wood and brick.
Rescuers used dogs to sniff for survivors. Firefighters used orange buckets as they removed debris from the rubble piles trying to reach people who may be trapped.
Heavy rain was forecast for the city on Thursday afternoon. It wasn't immediately known how that would affect search efforts.
The cause of the collapse was under investigation, but New York City’s buildings commissioner, Ahmed Tigani, noted that when the building fell, construction workers were excavating an empty lot next door for a new building.
Much of the rubble from the collapsed building — a mixed-use structure with apartments sitting atop ground-floor commercial space — wound up in a huge pile inside the construction pit. Another building that shared a wall with the collapsed structure remained standing, but its wall was shorn off, exposing the rooms inside, including a bedroom and closets filled with clothing.
About 250 firefighters were working the scene, Mamdani said. Two deaths were announced Wednesday and the others were confirmed Thursday.
On Wednesday night, firefighters pulled a woman — still alive and moving — out of a hole they had dug into the rubble pile, hoisting her up on a stretcher and rushing to a waiting ambulance. Additional people were pulled from beneath the pile as the night went on.
FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore said the rescue teams were performing “dangerous and perilous” work. “Every move is choreographed,” she said.
Phone and email messages seeking comment were left Wednesday with the architect, property owner and general contractor listed in city records as being associated with the construction project.
One resident of the collapsed building, Anderson Velez, told the New York Post he was at work when his wife called and said she and their two kids, ages 7 and 2, were trapped in the wreckage.
“She called me when the building collapsed while she was inside with rubble on top of her. She was screaming for someone to help get my son out and then the call cut off,” he said.
Velez said he later learned that his family had been pulled from the rubble alive.
Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this story.
First responders work the scene after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
First responders rescue a person after a building collapsed after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
First responders work the scene after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
First responders rescue a person after a building collapsed after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
First responders work the scene after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)
