The Dairy Council have welcomed the climbdown, which retracted the 'Consensus Action on Salt and Health' report's conclusion that "cheese is the third biggest contributor of salt in the diet, after bread and bacon."
The report authors have now issued a statement admitting that this is incorrect and adding: "Cheese provides 4% of the salt in the UK diet and our recommendation remains that cheese should be eaten in moderation as part of a healthy balanced diet."
Dairy Council director Dr Judith Bryans said: "We have been informed that CASH has issued an apology for an inaccurate reference to cheese being the third biggest contributor to salt in the diet in its cheese survey results press release.
"The British dairy industry takes its responsibilities with regard to nutrition and food safety very seriously indeed. It makes cheese that contains many valuable nutrients and is an important part of a healthy diet. Cheese has been one of the staples of the British diets for centuries and many people will see this report as another attempt to undermine one of the nation's favourites."
