http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=20047
April 03, 2006
By Julie Jargon
Avian flu threat looms over McDonald's
Focus on chicken could backfire if virus hits U.S.
Hurrying to grab lunch downtown last week, Vanita Moore decided to try McDonald's new chicken club, one of the priciest items on the menu.
But on her way out of the River North restaurant, Ms. Moore, who usually orders a burger, said her new taste for chicken would vanish with any outbreak of avian flu in the U.S. "I don't know much about avian flu other than it's happening in another part of the world," says the 43-year-old marketer.
Uninformed but skittish customers like Ms. Moore could pose a serious problem for McDonald's Corp. in the event the bird flu makes its way to the U.S. — despite the fact that no fatal cases of avian flu have come from eating fully cooked chicken. The company is counting on its new sandwiches and other chicken offerings to fuel growth and help shape its image as a healthier fast-food chain.
But chicken consumption is likely to drop off quickly if any Americans catch bird flu.
Priced at $3.90, the chicken club is more than three times the price of a regular hamburger and costs a buck more than a Big Mac.
Jan Fields, president of McDonald's U.S. central division, described chicken as "the new frontier" while addressing a group of J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. analysts in Las Vegas last month. "The reality is, chicken consumption is up 38% over the last five years, and we have to participate at the highest levels in this category," she told the analysts.
That trend could change, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which in February warned of a small decline in chicken consumption worldwide this year due to "unfounded fears of disease transmission."
Almost half the respondents of a national telephone survey conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health in January said they'd stop eating chicken if avian flu spreads to poultry in the U.S.
"McDonald's and other restaurant chains are going to have to get the message out to consumers that if chicken is properly cooked, it's safe," says Mike Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia. "If they get on it soon, the economic risk will be minimized. I'd do it right now."
CHAIN HAS ADDED CHICKEN ITEMS
Several customers interviewed after leaving the McDonald's at 405 N. Wabash Ave. during a lunch-hour rush last week said they didn't realize the avian flu virus can't survive in fully cooked chicken.
"If that's true, it should be stressed more," says Alice Riske, a 38-year-old researcher at an executive recruiting firm who often eats McDonald's chicken sandwiches.
McDonald's has been tight-lipped on the topic, saying only that it has contingency plans in place. To understand why the chain doesn't want to discuss it, one only has to look at McDonald's menu. The chain has recently added white meat chicken nuggets, larger fried chicken pieces called "chicken selects," premium salads that can be topped with chicken and premium chicken sandwiches. McDonald's will introduce a new Asian chicken salad later this month and is testing new equipment in Atlanta that can pressure-cook chicken to seal in flavor.
INFECTED BIRDS INEVITABLE IN U.S.
Some experts say a bird-flu outbreak in the U.S. is inevitable because of the migratory patterns of infected bird populations. "Within the next six months, we'll have infected birds in the U.S.," says Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
But it's unlikely that chicken sold in U.S. grocery stores and restaurants would come into contact with migrating birds, since most poultry sold in the U.S. is raised in isolation.
"McDonald's chicken products are absolutely safe to eat," a company spokesman says in a statement. "Our chicken products are cooked at temperatures well beyond guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization and USDA."
Other chains specializing in chicken — KFC, Popeyes and Chick-fil-A — have formed avian flu task forces. KFC, which suffered a sales slowdown in Asia last year due to bird flu fears, has an ad campaign on the safety of fully cooked chicken ready to go if need be. A spokesman for the National Chicken Council acknowledges that "we need to get the word out to the public" and says the trade group is preparing an educational video.
Courtney Erhardt, a 27-year-old administrative assistant who ordered a McDonald's spicy chicken sandwich last week, says that if avian flu comes to the U.S., "I'd stay away from chicken for awhile until they could prove it's safe to eat."
April 03, 2006
By Julie Jargon
Avian flu threat looms over McDonald's
Focus on chicken could backfire if virus hits U.S.
Hurrying to grab lunch downtown last week, Vanita Moore decided to try McDonald's new chicken club, one of the priciest items on the menu.
But on her way out of the River North restaurant, Ms. Moore, who usually orders a burger, said her new taste for chicken would vanish with any outbreak of avian flu in the U.S. "I don't know much about avian flu other than it's happening in another part of the world," says the 43-year-old marketer.
Uninformed but skittish customers like Ms. Moore could pose a serious problem for McDonald's Corp. in the event the bird flu makes its way to the U.S. — despite the fact that no fatal cases of avian flu have come from eating fully cooked chicken. The company is counting on its new sandwiches and other chicken offerings to fuel growth and help shape its image as a healthier fast-food chain.
But chicken consumption is likely to drop off quickly if any Americans catch bird flu.
Priced at $3.90, the chicken club is more than three times the price of a regular hamburger and costs a buck more than a Big Mac.
Jan Fields, president of McDonald's U.S. central division, described chicken as "the new frontier" while addressing a group of J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. analysts in Las Vegas last month. "The reality is, chicken consumption is up 38% over the last five years, and we have to participate at the highest levels in this category," she told the analysts.
That trend could change, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which in February warned of a small decline in chicken consumption worldwide this year due to "unfounded fears of disease transmission."
Almost half the respondents of a national telephone survey conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health in January said they'd stop eating chicken if avian flu spreads to poultry in the U.S.
"McDonald's and other restaurant chains are going to have to get the message out to consumers that if chicken is properly cooked, it's safe," says Mike Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia. "If they get on it soon, the economic risk will be minimized. I'd do it right now."
CHAIN HAS ADDED CHICKEN ITEMS
Several customers interviewed after leaving the McDonald's at 405 N. Wabash Ave. during a lunch-hour rush last week said they didn't realize the avian flu virus can't survive in fully cooked chicken.
"If that's true, it should be stressed more," says Alice Riske, a 38-year-old researcher at an executive recruiting firm who often eats McDonald's chicken sandwiches.
McDonald's has been tight-lipped on the topic, saying only that it has contingency plans in place. To understand why the chain doesn't want to discuss it, one only has to look at McDonald's menu. The chain has recently added white meat chicken nuggets, larger fried chicken pieces called "chicken selects," premium salads that can be topped with chicken and premium chicken sandwiches. McDonald's will introduce a new Asian chicken salad later this month and is testing new equipment in Atlanta that can pressure-cook chicken to seal in flavor.
INFECTED BIRDS INEVITABLE IN U.S.
Some experts say a bird-flu outbreak in the U.S. is inevitable because of the migratory patterns of infected bird populations. "Within the next six months, we'll have infected birds in the U.S.," says Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
But it's unlikely that chicken sold in U.S. grocery stores and restaurants would come into contact with migrating birds, since most poultry sold in the U.S. is raised in isolation.
"McDonald's chicken products are absolutely safe to eat," a company spokesman says in a statement. "Our chicken products are cooked at temperatures well beyond guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization and USDA."
Other chains specializing in chicken — KFC, Popeyes and Chick-fil-A — have formed avian flu task forces. KFC, which suffered a sales slowdown in Asia last year due to bird flu fears, has an ad campaign on the safety of fully cooked chicken ready to go if need be. A spokesman for the National Chicken Council acknowledges that "we need to get the word out to the public" and says the trade group is preparing an educational video.
Courtney Erhardt, a 27-year-old administrative assistant who ordered a McDonald's spicy chicken sandwich last week, says that if avian flu comes to the U.S., "I'd stay away from chicken for awhile until they could prove it's safe to eat."
