Soggy pasta being served up in Bradford's Italian restaurants could be a thing of the past-a - if the Italian government gets its way.

As from next year, Italy wants to send food inspectors to Italian restaurants around Europe to make sure restaurants are 100 per cent authentic.

There are 60,000 so-called Italian restaurants worldwide but Italy's agriculture minister Gianni Alemanno claims 25,000 in Europe have no right to call themselves Italian. It will be up to restaurateurs to ask for their menus and premises to be checked out before they can be awarded an authenticity certificate.

To pass the test, restaurants will have to prove that they use Italian products and they cook their pasta al dente - not soggy.

While some eateries like Manchester Road's Zio Tonino Restaurant and the city centre's Pizza Pieces have welcomed the idea, others have labelled the scheme as a publicity stunt and a joke.

Christiano Devittoris and his brother Aldo, who took over the family run Ital Restaurant in Bolton Road, Bradford, last year say there is no way they would sign up. Christiano said: "Even though we have nothing to hide and everything we have in our kitchen is made by Italian producers, we still wouldn't want to be a part of this scheme because it would be more of a hindrance than anything else."

Valentino Peverello, who has run Valentino's restaurant in Main Street, Bingley, for eight years, said: "It's a joke, but at the same time it's excellent publicity for Italian food. The problem is that not many people like al dente pasta because it's almost raw. You have to give your customers what they want."

At The New Giuseppes in Albion Court, Bradford, neither of the two owners are Italian - but they say their menu is the real thing.

Diane Johnson, whose husband Richard is a partner, said: "We might not be Italian but our food most definitely is. I've got to laugh at this latest idea really because we already have regular visits from West Yorkshire Trading Standards who check out that we use authentic ingredients and wines."

But city centre restaurateur Antonio Barbiero is ready if the Italian government's food inspectors come to Bradford.

He said: "It's good they are doing this for us. I'm against people who make out they are Italian and serve authentic Italian food when they are not and do not."

Mario Colombini who manages Zio Tonino in Manchester Roads said: "Recently the Government did a similar kind of scheme with parmesan cheese because so many restaurants weren't using the genuine article - I think it had quite an effect.

"I believe that customers deserve the best and have a right to expect and get authentic Italian food. Chefs know that using the right kind of ingredients make all the difference to a dish."

The Italian government wants 20 per cent of Italian restaurants around the globe to sign up for the scheme which was cooked up to protect the country's name from imposter makers of Italian products.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards divisional manager Graham Hebblethwaite said: "They needn't come over here to do that job because we already do it for them and so do the people from environmental health. If these restaurants say they are serving mozzarella on the menu and they are serving anything different - say a mix of mozzarella and some other kind of cheese - then they're in trouble.

"Food is no different to any other product - if they claim it's genuine then that's what it's got to be. The world Italian isn't a trademark description and you don't have to be Italian to run a legal Italian restaurant either. Italians don't have the monopoly on Italian restaurants. In Bradford there are lots of Asians who have pizza places - its the food and the ingredients that matter."