UK – The UK government has this week announced its official response to the milk task force report, submitted in January.

In a statement, food minister Lord Whitty said: “Government is keen to play its part in taking forward the work of the milk task force.” He added that many of the report’s findings had also been highlighted in February’s Policy Commission report and that action was already being taken.

The task force was set up in December 2000 to report on the dairy sector. The 11 strong panel identified functional dairy foods as an important area of growth and said that the dairy industry needed to pay more attention to market research and promotion.

The report also calls for simplification of milk quotas and accurate labelling of dairy products.