Tomato-growing is not usually associated with organised crime - but that could be about to change.

Investigators in Italy are to examine claims that the mafia dominates the distribution of Sicily's Pachino tomatoes.

Many food-lovers consider this particularly sweet and juicy variety to be the country's best tomatoes.

The investigation follows a popular TV presenter's call for a shoppers' boycott.

Outrage
Pachino tomatoes are widely acknowledged to be tastier than most.

So it was a shock to many - especially in a country that takes its food as seriously as Italy - when one of the best-known faces on daytime television accused the mafia of having taken control of their distribution and urged shoppers to stop buying them.

The moustachioed Alessandro di Pietro hosts "Occhio alla Spesa" (which translates as "keeping an eye on the shopping") - a price-watching programme popular with stay-at-home housewives that doesn't usually court controversy.