Posted on 01/15/2004 5:34:18 PM PST by JimSEA
Well-cooked eggs, chicken `safe to eat'
Consumer groups fear govt cover-up
If chickens and eggs are well cooked there is no need for anyone to fear contracting bird flu, the Food and Drug Administration said.
No evidence has come to light of the virus being passed to humans through eating food, said Supachai Kunaratanaphruk, the FDA secretary-general.
People in other countries had contracted bird flu by coming into direct contact with the animal infected with the virus, he said.
``The virus can be destroyed when exposed to heat of 50-60 degrees Celsius for half an hour,'' Mr Supachai said.
Chickens have been dying in their thousands, but the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry insists that it has no connection with the flu.
Consumer groups demanded the government reveal what is happening on poultry farms
.
Saree Aungsomwang, manager of the Foundation for Consumers, said the government was responsible for putting public health ahead of export interests.
``It would not be worth the risk for the government to cover up information that could hurt consumers, in exchange for export earnings,'' she said.
The government should take action to contain any possible spread of the disease, just as it did to counter the Sars threat. Vets should also tell farmers what was happening, she said.
One farmer said vets had declined to tell him what caused his chickens to fall ill.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob has asked staff to draw up action plans to ensure chicken meat stays free of bird flu.
Farmers who lose stock will get compensation of around 40 baht a head depending on the size of the bird, within 30 days of registration.
Mr Newin said provincial livestock offices would present an action plan by Monday to control any chicken disease epidemic and reassure customers.
Farmers would need a permit to transfer poultry and poultry raisers must count the animals on their farms and register by Jan 23.
When chickens die on farms, samples of the dead animals' tissue must be sent for lab tests.
Test results would be made public and epidemic control measures applied if an epidemic is detected.
The European Union, Japan, South Korea and Singapore _ all major Thai chicken meat buyers _ have asked the government whether the chickens died of bird flu.
The Livestock Department has issued a ban on the transfer of chickens if they have not been checked and is randomly collecting samples of chicken meat from fresh markets. Agriculture Ministry staff are inspecting 100,000 small-sized chicken farms nationwide.
Those few words are equivilant to, "We are from the Government and we are here to help you." Itf there is any way they can possibly cover something up they will. This is from the same people who labeled the burning of 20 schools and the killing of Bhuddist soldiers, "just bandits". By the way, the soldiers surrendered to the "bandits" and the four who were not muslim were killed -- 3 shot in the back of the head, one tortured and beaten.
World Health Organisation experts will arrive next week to make tests on dead chickens, amid controversy over the disease plaguing many poultry farms.
The visit should prove once and for all that there is no bird flu in Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday.
The rumour of a bird flu outbreak in Thailand was started by candidates in a local election fighting a fierce campaign, he said.
On Wednesday, Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob also insisted Thailand was free of bird flu. He said farmers and local politicians who claimed their chickens were infected with the disease were merely trying to milk the state for compensation.
Mr Newin said 100,000 chickens in Nakhon Sawan, Chachoengsao and Suphan Buri provinces had died of respiratory disease, cold weather and chicken cholera, and another 300,000 healthy birds had been slaughtered to contain the outbreak.
Mr Thaksin insisted Thai chickens were safe to eat.
WHO representatives would arrive in Thailand next week to examine dead chickens and he was confident they would find the birds died of cholera, not bird flu.
Health and livestock officials were monitoring the problem carefully and reporting regularly, Mr Thaksin said. Poultry raisers who had a problem could dial 1111 for help.
However, the Consumer Power Association of Thailand yesterday called on the government to tell the truth, so the people could prepare to brace for an epidemic which could be worse than Sars.
In an appeal made through the House consumer protection panel, the association claimed bird flu had begun spreading in Thailand late last year and was now a serious problem in Nakhon Sawan, Nakhon Pathom, Suphan Buri and Chachoengsao provinces.
The association urged the government to care more about the people than the economy and tourism.
Major chicken raisers in Ayutthaya and Chachoengsao yesterday denied bird flu was spreading in the two provinces.
Saneh Kannasut, owner of Kannasut Farm in Ayutthaya's Bang Pa-in district _ one of the country's largest egg farms _ said he employed strict preventive measures and his operation was free of all diseases, including chicken cholera which killed birds on farms in the province's Bang Sai, Sena, Phak Hai and Bang Ban districts.
Manoj Chuthabtim, chairman of Paed Riew Egg Chicken Cooperative in Chachoengsao, said many chickens normally died in winter, not as a result of a major epidemic but because the changed weather caused respiratory disease.
The Livestock Department was closely watching the situation and advising farmers how to control any diseases.
How reassuring. I wonder how many people cook their eggs for half an hour.
I was wondering the same thing.
Eating is getting to be a risky proposition.
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