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British consumers fear no fowl
despite bird flu
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LONDON (Reuters) - A bird flu outbreak at a handful of English farms has had no impact on sales of chicken and other poultry products in Britain even though investigators cannot rule out the possibility that more farms are involved. British consumers continue to fill their grocery baskets with chicken, turkey and other poultry despite discovery of the H7N3 bird flu strain among flocks in Norfolk, eastern England last month, according to industry officials. Britain has culled thousands of birds that were infected or exposed to the bird flu strain, which is less dangerous to humans than the feared H5N1 virus but potentially devastating to poultry producers. The industry employs 13,000 people and manages 28 million chickens and other birds in the eastern part of England. Norfolk, itself, is home to some of Europe's biggest poultry farms, including the country's largest turkey farmer. "We haven't had any impact on sales. Fresh chicken sales remain steady," said Parveen Johal, a spokeswoman for J. Sainsbury Plc, Britain's third-largest grocer. "Our reports are that consumers still remain confident (about consuming poultry)," Johal added. Asda, the U.K. arm of the world's |
biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., also reports no change in chicken sales. "This is exactly how we expected it to be," said Rebecca Liburd, a spokeswoman for the company. The limited scope of the Norfolk outbreak -- one worker has fallen ill with a mild case of conjunctivitis, a treatable eye infection -- has relieved those who feared fallout similar to that seen during a H7N3 scare in the Netherlands in 2003. That outbreak infected 90 people, including a veterinarian who died, and led to the culling of a third of the Dutch poultry flock. MAD COW DISEASE The response by British consumers is both a reaction to the variant of bird flu involved -- it is a relatively low pathogen -- as well as a reflection of Britain's experience in dealing with emerging food borne diseases, most notably mad cow disease. Although the European Union imposed a 10-year ban on British beef in 1996 in response to the mad cow crisis, many British consumers continued to eat hamburgers, steaks and other beef products after being reassured by government officials and health experts that doing so was safe. Britain also experienced a bird flu outbreak among turkeys in eastern England in 1992. |
"The British public has reacted with maturity and intelligence," said Peter Bradnock, chief executive of the British Poultry Council. "They are informed from a public health point of view as well as a food safety point of view." Bradnock said it was possible that Britain and other members of the European Union would see more bird flu cases as surveillance and control of flocks became more widespread, but added that consumers should be reassured not panicked. "(H7N3) is a strain that has the capability to become highly pathogenic and that is why efforts are being made to nip it in the bud," Bradnock said. Britain's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said investigators are still trying to determine the origin of the strain that infected the Norfolk flocks. A one-km restricted zone is in place around each of the farms and movements of poultry and poultry products may only take place under license from the state veterinary service.
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