Cartoon boycott costs Danish company 1 million dollars a day

Radio New Zealand said on Sunday that Danish-Swedish dairy giant Arla Foods says the ongoing boycott of Danish products in the Middle East has so far cost it between 40 to - 50 million dollars.

Arla is losing 1 million a day as the Muslim world refuses to buy Danish goods in protest over cartoons published in a Danish newspaper.

Arla has also had to send home 170 employees across Denmark due to the impact of reduced sales.

The offending cartoons featured caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. They were first published last September in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

The row erupted over the past week when the cartoons were republished in a number of other European newspapers.

Although Jyllands-Posten has apologised for any offence caused (but not for publishing the cartoon), sales of Danish products have halted across the Middle East.

Arla says it's been doing business in the Middle East for 40 years and has had production in Saudi Arabia for 20 years - but it was "all in ruins" after five days or so.