• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

TV May Feed Fears, Food Industry Says: Leaders Aim to Counter Worries About Bird Flu

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 May 2006, 03:03 CDT

By Karen Herzog, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

May 9--Chicago -- Although the Asian form of avian influenza does not exist in the United States, and a pandemic might not be imminent here, the nation's supermarket industry and poultry companies are bracing for needless panic that could be caused by television shows such as one airing tonight on ABC.

"Our (supermarket) members are concerned that people will panic, whether or not there's an influenza pandemic," Tim Hammonds, president and chief executive officer of the supermarket industry's trade association, the Food Marketing Institute, said Monday during a news briefing at the association's annual convention at McCormick Place.

Hammonds said the association, which represents about 23,000 of the nation's 30,000 supermarkets, has teamed up with the National Chicken Council to protect poultry sales "from needless hurt because of irrational fear."

There's a lot of chicken at stake. The chicken industry produces, processes and markets chickens and chicken products, with wholesale shipments valued about $25 billion (estimated retail value: $38 billion), according to the council.

The council's Web site, www.nationalchickencouncil.com, notes that the Asian form of avian influenza that has killed more than 100 people worldwide since 2003 and has killed or forced the slaughter of more than 200 million chickens, ducks, turkeys and other domestic fowl in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Still, the council, public health officials and the food industry said it's better to be safe than sorry.

Hammonds said the institute has assembled a national medical advisory team and has created a consumer-friendly brochure about avian flu available at www.fmi.org.

If a pandemic were to occur, it would spin out of control if consumers were unable to get food at home because a pandemic would be "a disease of crowds," Hammonds said. Schools would close and restaurants' businesses would "disappear for some period," as people would avoid crowded places and eat meals at home to minimize risk of exposure, he said.

"If this problem comes to America, we may have to share resources to find innovative ways to serve customers," he said.

Some experts think that migrating birds could spread the virus to the U.S. this year. If that happens, the chicken industry will immediately be challenged to quell fears that the virus could be spread through eating chicken, Hammonds said.

Avian influenza is a public health issue but not a food safety issue, Hammonds said. "You can't get avian influenza from properly handled and cooked food," he said.

Avian influenza is caused by a virus, and like all types of viruses, it is destroyed by the heat of normal cooking, he said.

The U.S. Agriculture Department has confirmed that this heat level -- to an internal temperature of 165 degrees -- is more than adequate to destroy the virus.

Conditions in the U.S. poultry industry also are radically different from those in Asia, where millions of chickens, ducks and other poultry live in close proximity with swine and other livestock and with humans, the council notes on its Web site.

By contrast, the vast majority of chickens and turkeys in the U.S. are raised in sheltered conditions where they have no contact with other animals and very little contact with humans.

The type of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza that has killed poultry in Asia has not acquired the ability to move easily from human to human.

The U.S. has never imported poultry products from Southeast Asia. Since the Asian flu crisis erupted, the federal government also has prohibited the importation of live birds or other potential carriers of avian influenza

The poultry industry has launched a Web site, www.avianinfluenzainfo.com, to respond to public concerns.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

More News in this Category