Top Italian EU health and safety official steps down-update2

(ANSA) - Brussels, October 15 - The European Commission on Wednesday accepted the resignation of Italian food and consumer safety official Paola Testori Coggi following an internal investigation into alleged irregularities in the commissioning of a food study.
    Coggi stepped down as chief of the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (SANCO), a post she had held since April 2010. The internal disciplinary inquiry found she alerted an NGO as to the timing of an EU tender notice. "There was no evidence of corruption or criminal behavior," said EU spokesman Antonio Gravili.
    Coggi derived no personal gain from her actions, the Commission said.
    A trained biologist and ecotoxicologist, Coggi joined the European Commission in 1983.