The government and its "renegade agencies without portfolio" are a bigger barrier to the future growth of the British cheese market than international competition, and have damaged the image of cheese, according to a Dairy UK survey out next week. In a survey of more than 100 "senior figures" in the cheese industry ahead of a Cheese Summit on Tuesday 1 May, only 2% felt the government was supportive of the British cheese industry, and 52% said it was actively "anti-cheese". Meanwhile 22% said the government, and its "health" messages, were the greatest threat compared with 18% who feared foreign competition. The smallest barrier was milk prices at 6%. Asked what single thing the government could do to support and promote British cheese, 61% said it should "deliver a more positive message about cheese consumption". In stark contrast, 14% of respondents wanted the government to address the purchasing power of the multiples. The survey corroborates The Grocer's ongoing Weigh It Up! campaign, which points to the inadequacies of the Nutrient Profiling Model - the FSA's proprietary methodology that has been used by Ofcom as the basis for a TV ban to children on so-called HFSS (high fat, salt, sugar) foods, including cheese, Marmite, honey, raisins, Bran Flakes and olive oil. The FSA has accused The Grocer of "making up quotes" from "men down the pub". However, one of the senior figures who responded to the Dairy UK survey summed up the emotiveness of the issue among the cheese industry's top brass. "Without a central coordinated approach to food education, the government - and the current architecture of government - allows for renegade agencies to dictate policy without portfolio and send out messages that are ill-conceived and potentially devastating." The Ofcom ad ban, which only affects TV advertising aimed at children, has had a wider impact on the image of cheese, according to 78% of respondents. "Our concern," said one, "is not so much the impact of zero advertising [of cheese] to children - because there is hardly any - but on the message it sends out to parents and others about the position of cheese in the diet." Another said: "Positioning cheese as a 'non-healthy' food for children is detrimental to the image of cheese, particularly among children. In other countries, children are encouraged to eat cheese for their calcium intake, and this is widely promoted." A third added: "Cheese is the best protein-rich food simply eaten... the negative health aspects of cheese (fat content) completely ignore the wider positive health benefits." Another said: "The ban has reinforced discrimination against dairy products." Jim Begg, DG of Dairy UK, said the survey sent a very strong message. "The government needs to work with industry to strengthen the case for cheese and get across its enormous nutritional contribution. Cheese is the foundation of global growth in dairy demand, and product innovation and high-value products are crucial to its future success. The Cheese Summit takes place on 1 May in Portland Place, London. Ofcom has already declined to attend.

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