May 9, 2008

South Korean poultry industry to launch bird flu awareness campaign
 

Poultry businesses have teamed up to launch a promotion campaign to raise bird flu awareness to curb increasing fears among consumers.
 

Bird flu has spread rapidly and it is worrying consumers, which in turn is affecting poultry sales. As a result, nine organisations have formed the Korea Poultry Industry Development Council to promote safe consumption of poultry while removing public misperceptions of bird flu.

Members of the Council include Korea Chicken Food Service Association, Korea Poultry Association, Korea Duck Association, and the Korea Egg Distribution Association.

The plan is to educate the public on safe poultry consumption and poultry are safe to eat if cooked properly, according to Lee Kyung-woo, managing director of the Korea Chicken Food Service Association which represents all chicken franchises in South Korea.

Continuous reports on bird flu has caused sales for big players in his industry to lose 50 percent of sales, while smaller players are losing in between 70-80 percent of sales, Lee said.

South Korea has culled about 6 million birds since bird flu cases were reported in the Jeolla region on April 1, 2008.