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update:May 3, 2006
Kentucky Fried Chicken assures consumers its chicken is safe
The face of KFC founder Colonel Harland
Sanders' face will appear on a sticker meant to head off any concerns about
eating chicken if bird flu spreads to the United
States.
The small stickers are being put on the lid of every bucket of chicken that
KFC sells in the US.
The seal is a pre-emptive campaign assuring
customers that the chicken is "rigorously inspected, thoroughly cooked, quality
assured."
"While it doesn't specifically mention avian flu, for
deliberate reasons, it reassures our customers that our food is perfectly safe,"
said Jonathan Blum, a spokesman for Yum Brands Inc., the parent of
KFC.
Outbreaks of the H5N1 avian flu occurred in some countries where
Kentucky Fried Chicken does business, with mixed results on its
profits.
In Turkey and Trinidad, KFC's business slumped for a few
weeks before recovering after the chain ran ads and handed out material at
stores to reassure customers that its chicken was safe to eat, Blum
said.
In China, Yum's operating profit plunged by 20% in last year's
fourth quarter, due partly to concern about avian flu. KFC sales had rebounded
by February and March in the fast-growing market. In Thailand, the avian flu
hasn't had an impact on sales, Blum said.
Chick-fil-A, based in
Atlanta, currently doesn't have plans to add a food-safety message to its
packaging, though it has been discussed as part of contingency planning, said
company spokesman Don Perry.
Blum said in an interview that KFC has
safeguards in place stretching from "farm to table" to guarantee that its
chicken is safe.
KFC suppliers keep the birds under cover to prevent
contact with any migratory bird that might carry the virus, Blum said. Each
flock is checked for the virus before being shipped for processing, he said.
At processing plants, each piece of chicken is inspected before
being sent to restaurants and then the chicken is cooked at high temperatures as
another safeguard, he said.
Editor WorldPoultry
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