A rapper, a novelist, and an American TV star join the ranks

Milan, September 12 - Milan Expo 2015 has added three new ambassadors to its list of international spokespeople for the food and sustainability-themed world fair taking place from May to October next year. Italian rapper and composer Frankie Hi Nrg MC, novelist and former anti-Mafia magistrate Gianrico Carofiglio, and American actress Katherine Kelly Lang bring the number of international Expo ambassadors up to 40.

Among them are Italian cookbook author and TV show host Antonella Clerici and leading architect Massimiliano Fuksas.

The Expo 2015 theme 'Feeding the planet. Energy for life' focuses on nutrition, sustainability, and global culinary culture.

Katherine Kelly Lang, known for her role as Brooke Logan in the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful since 1987, has taken a two-month break from the long-running CBS show to appear in Italy's Dancing With The Stars. "Feeding the planet is very important," Lang said in her Expo video testimonial.

"It's all about sustainability, being eco-conscious, and taking care of the environment. People should really be aware so as to continue having healthy food and clean water in the future". In a nod to her new home for the coming weeks, Lang added that "as a triathlete I need a plate of pasta before the race, and there is certainly no better pasta that here in Italy".

Popular Italian rapper Frankie Hi Nrg MC, who launched his career opening for Run DMC and the Beastie Boys during a 1992 Italian tour, also did a testimonial.

"It wouldn't be a bad thing for us to understand how to balance our use of resources and production of new ones in the 21st century," said the rapper. "The central issue is the way food is distributed across the planet," said Gianrico Carofiglio, whose debut novel Involuntary Witness (2002) became the basis for a television series.

"In Chinese, the word for crisis is the same as the one for one for opportunity. An event such as this one can be an opportunity to overcome a crisis that has lasted too long," Carofiglio added.

More than 140 countries and organizations are set to participate in the world fair to take place on a 100-hectare former industrial site near Milan's massive Fieramilano trade exhibition centre.

Organizers hope to attract 20 million visitors from around the world. Five million tickets have already been sold to tour operators, including one million in China.