UK poultry sales solid despite bird flu case

UK poultry sales solid despite bird flu case - farm union
Last Update: 4:49 PM ET Apr 7, 2006


LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s big four supermarket chains report
strong, maintained sales of chicken and eggs despite the recent case of bird
flu, said the National Farmers Union of England and Wales in a statement
Friday.
Asda Group Ltd. (AGP.YY), J Sainsbury PLC (SBRY.LN), Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) and
William Morrison Supermarkets PLC (MRW.LN) have all reported no significant
change to poultry meat or egg sales in light of the H5N1 bird flu strain -
which can be fatal to humans - discovered in a dead swan off the coast of
Fife in Scotland.
The statement follows a sharp drop in poultry sales earlier this year in
France and Italy due to bird flu concerns.
"It is great the British public has realized this is a disease of birds and
not of humans," said Charles Bourns, chairman of the NFU Poultry Board.
"It is important people carry on supporting the poultry industry - if they
stop the industry will be devastated, added Bourns. "If they carry on we
will get through this."
The U.K. poultry industry is worth GBP1.6 billion annually and currently
there are about 271.5 million poultry birds in the U.K., said the NFU which
represents 2,000 commercial poultry members.
The U.K. Food Standards Agency says properly cooked poultry and poultry
products, including eggs, are safe to eat.
FSA Chair Deirdre Hutton said Thursday the Agency's advice hasn't changed by
the confirmed wild bird case in Scotland. She said the advice is in line
with the expert opinions of the World Health Organization, the European Food
Safety Authority and the U.K.'s independent expert scientific advisers.
"If you wish to eat poultry and eggs you should continue to do so, following
the normal precautions of cooking thoroughly and by that we mean cooking
until there are no red juices, or in the case of eggs, cooking until the
white is hard," said Hutton. "That advice applies to cooking chickens
generally, not just because of the possibility of avian flu."
-Contact: 201-938-5400

--

regards
Jill Bowis

Pure bred utility chickens and ducks
Housing; Equipment, Books, Videos, Gifts
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine nursery
Working Holidays in Scotland
http://www.kintaline.co.uk


.

Relevant Pages

  • Vietnam to begin mass vaccination of poultry in August to combat bird flu
    ... Vietnam to begin mass vaccination of poultry in August to combat bird ...
    (soc.culture.cambodia)
  • Re: NO NEED TO FEAR BIRD FLU
    ... unmeasurably low risk of catching bird flu from a wild bird. ... Bird flu has been spread around the world by movements ... of poultry and poultry products, ... wild birds, at a very low level, and evidence that wild birds have ...
    (uk.environment.conservation)
  • BIRD FLU KILLS CAT
    ... BIRD FLU KILLS CAT AS FEARS SPREAD ... America yesterday became the latest country to ban poultry imports from ...
    (rec.travel.europe)
  • Re: NO NEED TO FEAR BIRD FLU
    ... Angus please don't show your ignorance of bird life. ... Bird flu has been spread around the world by movements ... of poultry and poultry products, ...
    (uk.environment.conservation)
  • AI in France
    ... France confirms H5N1 bird flu found at turkey farm ... It was the first case of the virus in domestic farm birds in the ... Poultry sales in France are already down by about 30 percent. ...
    (uk.business.agriculture)