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British checking turkey meat in shops.

S

susieM

Well-known member
Shops checked for bird flu meat
Fri Feb 9, 2007 1:46PM GMT


(Reuters) - 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 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.
 
Re: British checking turkey meat in shops.

"If infected meat had got into the food chain it wouldn't be a safety risk to consumers."
Click to expand...
Is there a scientific basis for making this statement? It is my understanding that fully cooked meat is safe. What about raw meat? AI virus can live for long periods of time - particularly at lower temperatures. For reference:

July 20, 2005, Associated Press
By Margie Mason
Bird Flu Found in Frozen Duck Meat

Excerpt from the article:


The bird flu virus was found in processed frozen duck meat shipped for human consumption from China to Japan two years ago ? another reminder of how easily the disease can cross borders and how hard it is to kill, health officials said Wednesday. In a recent study published online in the journal Virology, a team of Japanese researchers reported a form of the H5N1 virus was found in duck meat exported from China's Shandong province into Japan in 2003.
<table class="boxyel" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="160"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#ffffcc">WHO said processed poultry meat poses no risk to consumers as long as precautions are taken during preparation, such as frequently washing hands and countertops and making sure all meat is thoroughly cooked and no blood remains.
</td></tr></tbody></table>
The World Health Organization said this was not the first time the virus has been found in processed meat, but it stressed the findings illustrate the virus' strength and presence in Asian poultry stocks.

However, WHO said processed poultry meat poses no risk to consumers as long as precautions are taken during preparation, such as frequently washing hands and countertops and making sure all meat is thoroughly cooked and no blood remains.

"This is an indicator that H5N1 viruses are widespread in Asia in many different kinds of fowl," said Bob Dietz, a spokesman for WHO's Western Pacific Region.

"We know this virus to be a persistent, aggressive survivor. This study is another indicator of that."

The findings come as China is under pressure to provide more information about the virus found in wild birds. The country has not responded to WHO requests for information about 6,000 migratory bird deaths in the western province of Qinghai or to let experts visit the site of a reported bird flu outbreak near the border with Kazakhstan, said Roy Wadia, a spokesman for WHO's Beijing office.
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Re: British checking turkey meat in shops.

I thought the government and the producer said there was no chance that the turkeys entered the markets? Perhaps it is the Hungarian Turkeys that did?
 
Re: British checking turkey meat in shops.

If infected meat in the food chain was not a risk then why are they bothering to check for it? The answer is simple, it is a risk. Remember the Turkey kids that died because they played football with the chicken head? The "no risk if cooked properly" is a red herring, the risk is in the preparation.

The WHO advice says it all:

WHO said processed poultry meat poses no risk to consumers as long as precautions are taken during preparation, such as frequently washing hands and countertops and making sure all meat is thoroughly cooked and no blood remains.
Click to expand...
 
Re: British checking turkey meat in shops.

Thanks for the reality check MHSC. I keep falling for it :oops:
 
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