Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

UK checking whether bird flu meat reached shops
09 Feb 2007 13:44:59 GMT
Source: Reuters
•  Bird flu

(Adds details)

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - British health authorities said on Friday they were investigating whether meat contaminated with bird flu had reached shops, but stressed there was no threat to consumers.

The alarm was raised after the government concluded on Thursday that a bird flu outbreak at a giant turkey farm was probably caused not by wild birds but by contaminated shipments from Hungary, possibly of processed turkey meat.

"If it was found that (infected) meat had got into the food chain it would be illegal and we would take appropriate action," a Food Standards Agency spokeswoman said.

"I couldn't tell you what we would do. But we wouldn't want that meat there. At the moment we are not in the process of withdrawing any turkey products from supermarket shelves."

"If infected meat had got into the food chain it wouldn't be a safety risk to consumers."

Bernard Matthews, Europe's largest turkey producer which has has had 160,000 birds destroyed after an outbreak in Britain, has acknowledged shipping 38 tonnes of partially processed turkey meat from Hungary per week.

The firm suspended shipments from Hungary after the British government concluded on Thursday that the virus which caused the British outbreak was identical to one that caused an outbreak in Hungary in January.


AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article       Send comments

Emergencies

•  Bird flu

MORE >>

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.
Reset map

•  Egypt profile
· View map

•  Hungary profile
· View map

•  Russia profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  Christian Aid and Muslim magazine Q-News host screening of World Justice film
Christian Aid - UK

•  Compensate poor countries before it's too late, says Christian Aid
Christian Aid - UK

•  Amputee Cyclist to Trek Around the World to Raise Awareness and Funds for Landmine Survivors
Clear Path International - USA

•  British Charity MAG calls on EC support for humanitarian disarmament
MAG - UK

•  The world's poor need you: chance to volunteer for historic climate march
Christian Aid - UK

MORE >>

Latest news

•  UK checking whether bird flu meat reached shops

•  INTERVIEW-Indonesia says WHO must set rules on H5N1 sharing

•  U.N. delays Kosovo talks to accommodate Serbs

•  Hungary investigates British bird flu link

•  Germany accepts EU carbon emissions cap

MORE >>

Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Fri Feb 9 13:47:15 2007