Feta cheese ruling has Danish dairy industry in a spin

DAIRY industries around the world are closely watching the outcome of a €200 million threat to Denmark’s dairy industry, posed by an EU ruling that only Greek cheese can be called feta.

The tangy white cheese, traditionally made from goats' or sheep's milk, is a central ingredient in Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine.

But three quarters of the world's feta is produced outside Greece, with Danish firms alone accounting for 25,000 tonnes a year. Greece makes five times more feta than Denmark, but about 95% of its 120,000 tonnes output is for the domestic market, where the average consumer eats around 12 kilos (26 pounds) a year.