Bad news for Danish goods

Plastic bricks being manufactured at a moulding plant in Billund, Denmark, which makes 70% of Lego pieces. Photograph: Reuters

Some Danish firms are already reeling from a consumer boycott of their goods in the Arab world following the furore over cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.

Arla Foods, Europe's second-largest dairy products company, says the boycott of Danish products across the Middle East has been a disaster for the firm.

"We have built up our business over the past 40 years," the company said. "And within five days, our business came to a complete stop."

The Danish toy-maker Lego says its products have already been taken off the shelves of stores in Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Calls for a boycott are spreading.