Bird flu fears cutting into poultry exports
ATLANTA - A spokesman for the U-S-A Poultry and Egg Export Council says addressing fears about the Avian flu is the major issuing facing people in the poultry industry.Toby Moore made the comments Tuesday at a special export seminar as part of the 58th annual International Poultry Expo, which opens Wednesday at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. It runs through Friday.
Fears about the bird flu have led to a drop in poultry consumption abroad. U-S poultry producers have created an advertising campaign to emphasize the safety of properly cooked chicken.
As many as 30,000 representatives of the poultry industry are expected to attend the expo in downtown Atlanta.
Moore - who represents the council based in Stone Mountain - says poultry consumption has dropped 20 percent to 30 percent in countries with outbreaks of bird flu, leading to a reduction of chicken exports from this country.
He said that in countries with outbreaks of bird flu, poultry consumption has declined 20 to 30 percent. That has cause backups in U.S. exports of dark meat, mostly chicken leg quarters. That has led to a drop in the price of dark meat by about 40 percent, according to Tom Hensley, chief financial officer of Habersham County-based Fieldale Farms, one of the largest poultry processors in the state.
Source: AccessNorthGa
25 January 2006
1 minute read
