Bird flu drives sales down

BIRD flu fears hit poultry consumption in several EU countries last week, even though cooking chicken at a temperature above 70 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Fahrenheit) destroys the virus.

Infected birds were found in the EU late on Monday, on the Greek island of Inousses, near the border with Turkey. Turkey and Romania had the first cases of the H5N1 strain, which killed more than 60 people in Asia.

In Turkey, sales of poultry had fallen by 50%, said farmers, and a number of restaurants had withdrawn white meat from menus.