Food body reassures Irish chicken consumers

Irish consumers should not be concerned over the Asian outbreak of bird flu because the "vast majority" of fresh chicken fillets are produced in Ireland, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said today.

It also repeated its reassurance that there is no scientific evidence to suggest eating chicken will cause infection with the potentially fatal bird flu virus. The European Commission imposed a ban on the importation of poultry products from Thailand last week.

Today it was confirmed that the bird flue virus has claimed its first human victim in Thailand when a six-year-old boy died after contracting the disease.

In Pakistan, authorities said two million chickens had died of a mild form of the disease, and Taiwan reported a new outbreak of the mild strain.

Ireland imports approximately 1,200 tonnes of chicken from Thailand every year primarily as frozen fillets for use in the catering industry.

Mr Alan Reilly, acting chief executive of the FSAI, told ireland.comconsumers were not at risk from eating Thai chicken. He said the imposition of the ban on poultry was to protect flocks from potential infection.

Consumers should always follow the same health rules with all chicken, by storing and preparing in a hygienic environment and cooking food thoroughly, he said.

"Thai poultry products could pose a problem to our flocks if, say for example, an infected raw chicken fillet was discarded, ended up on a landfill, was eaten by a bird that then went on to spread the virus to chicken flocks here.

"Consumers should not be concerned, as thorough cooking of chicken kills off harmful micro-organisms. The threat to public health from avian influenza through the consumption of cooked chicken is negligible," he added.