Neapolitan pizza chefs on Wednesday handed out thousands of freshly cooked Margherita pizzas to delighted residents and tourists in a bid to publicise the real cost of Italy's favourite dish.

Twenty pizza chefs slaved over five ovens set up in one of the city's central squares, producing 2,000 pizzas in their first two hours of the event promoted by the Italian Consortium for the Safeguarding of Neapolitan Pizza and the Neapolitan Pizza Chefs' Association (APN).

''Consumers beware: a Margherita shouldn't cost more than 3.5 euros,'' said APN president Sergio Miccu'.

''Obviously it's necessary to take the running costs which vary from business to business into account, but even if costs for producers are around 1.2 euros per pizza, they'll still be making a profit,'' he said.

The provincial government's agriculture chief, Francesco Emilio Borrelli, said it was important to safeguard the image of Neapolitan pizza, which he described as the ''meal of the poor and the treat of the rich''.

''In some cities in north and central Italy, and unfortunately also in Campania, I've seen Margherita pizzas being sold for 10 euros,'' Borrelli said.

''Considering the low cost of the raw materials, that's real financial speculation''.

Farmers' association Coldiretti meanwhile set the true cost of the flour, yeast, salt, water, tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil and basil required for an average 200-gramme Margherita pizza at 2 euros.

Coldiretti said costs were further reduced if producers used inferior quality ingredients, such as Chinese tomato concentrate, Tunisian extra-virgin olive oil or mozzarella from cows rather than buffalos.

In February Neapolitan pizza associations succeeded in getting the European Union to publish the requisites for 'real Neapolitan pizza' in the EU's Official Gazette, and will shortly get a coveted STG (guaranteed traditional speciality) licence from Brussels.

The STG licence will be valid in all EU countries and mean that anyone claiming to be producing real Neapolitan pizza will be subject to strict inspections.

Not only will pizza chefs have to use the right ingredients, they will also have to prepare the pizza according to official guidelines, including stretching the dough by hand (no rolling pins) and ensuring it is cooked at a high enough temperature to achieve a regular, puffed crust, free of blisters.

Pizza is one of the few foods composed almost exclusively of the region's three DOP (Denomination of Controlled Origin) products as already recognized by the European Union: San Marzano tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil from Campania, and 'mozzarella di bufala'.