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KFC Fears Bird Flu Will Pluck Its Sales

November 8, 2005

Bird Flu • Bird Flu Not the Only Animal Disease Threat • Bird Flu Vaccine Trials 'Encouraging' • FDA Frets about Flu Drugs' Side Effects • World Not Ready For Bird Flu • Researchers: Bird Flu Pandemic Inevitable • Bird Flu Scare in Virginia • FDA Issues Flu Vaccine Guidelines • FDA Approves First Bird Flu Vaccine • More Flu Bugs Show Resistance To Anti-Virals • Seasonal Flu Shot Might Offer Some Bird Flu Protection • Experts Concerned about Tamiflu Overuse • Study Finds Much Bird Flu Planning is Misplaced • U.S. Orders More Bird Flu Vaccine • Scientists Identify Genetic Changes That Could Lead to Bird Flu Pandemic • Drug Interaction Can Render Tamiflu Ineffective • New Bird Flu Variant Renews Pandemic Concerns • Researchers Find New Weapon Against Flu Virus • Researchers Test Spreadability of Bird Flu Viruses to Humans • GlaxoSmithKline Claims Bird Flu Breaththrough • Global Corporations Struggle to Plan For Pandemic • Flu Pandemic Is "Inevitable," EU Experts Warn • Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated In Indonesian Cases • Indonesian Nurse May Have Bird Flu • Study Warns of "Chaos" and "Panic" If Bird Flu Strikes • Investigators Find No Evidence Bird Flu Virus Has Mutated • Scientists Fear Bird Flu Virus May Have Mutated • Airlines Queasy About Quarantining Bird Flu Victims • More ...

The daily headlines about bird flu are sending a shockwave through the fast food industry. Kentucky Fried Chicken, in particular, is preparing a public relations blitz to convince consumers their food is safe.

The KFC campaign will explain how its chickens are handled and tested, reassuring consumers that tainted birds never make it through the screening process, according to an article in Advertising Age.

Parent company Yum Brands told the trade publication it's bracing for a 20 percent drop in sales if infected birds, wild or domestic, are found in the U.S. The magazine says demand for chicken has already plunged as much as 40 percent in Europe and Asia.

The U.S. poultry industry maintains eating its birds is perfectly safe and the U.S. Department of Agriculture agrees.

“If high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) were detected in the U.S., the chance of infected poultry entering the food chain would be extremely low,” according to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

“Nevertheless, proper handling and cooking of poultry provides protection against HPAI, as it does against other viruses and bacteria, including Salmonella and E.coli.”

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