Meanwhile in Rome， the Italian government 19)groped to 20)contain the disaster. At least twelve vintners were arrested on charges ranging from 21)manslaughter and22)grievous bodily harm， to criminal association and illegal adulteration of food. Prime Minister Bettino Craxi announced that any vintner guilty of adulterating wine could have his winemaking license 23)revoked and his profits and equipment 24)confiscated in addition to facing criminal charges. Agriculture Minister Filippo Pandolfi flew to 25)Brussels， where he tried to convince leaders of the 26)European Community that no ban on Italian imports was necessary.
Despite these efforts， there was no doubt that Italy had suffered a traumatic blow. In Denmark， where a 6，613-gallon shipment of cheap Italian 27)vermouth was found to contain dangerous amounts of methyl alcohol， officials issued a ban on all Italian wines. West Germany imposed border controls requiring Italian wine imports to be cleared by government chemists. And in France， the government seized 4.4 million gallons of suspect wine and dumped at least 1.3 million gallons. Clearly， it would be a long time before the world’s consumers fully recovered their confidence in one of Italy’s best-known and most widely distributed products.