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Sanjay Dutt

Bollywood promotes chicken products to ward off bird flu scare
12th Mar 2006 14.00 IST
By Agencies

With the sale of chicken products going down following the outbreak of bird flu in the country, Bollywood has come forward to the rescue of poultry farm owners to remove any misconceptions about the disease.

And to dispel fears among people, Sanjay Dutt , Sunil Shetty , Zayed Khan with his cousin Fardeen Khan joined a campaign in Mumbai on Friday to bring chicken back to the palates of Indian household.

In 2003 too, when there were fears of Avian flu in the country, the three actors had rallied for chicken and this time again they appealed to people to eat chicken products.

"There is no bird flu. I request the people of my country to eat chicken. If there was bird flu then I would have been the first one to tell people not to eat chicken," said Dutt.

Fardeen, who was seen relishing the roasted leg piece, said it was safe to eat chicken.

"The purpose of our being here is to separate fact from fiction. Fact is that chicken is meant for consumption and it is healthy to eat chicken. There is no problem," said Fardeen.

Sales of chicken across the country dropped to between 20 and 30 percent of normal levels in the first week after the outbreak.

Endorsing his colleagues, Shetty said: "I will continue eating chicken and there is no problem. But because of rumours the entire generation will be boycotted. It is absolutely pure and edible".

It has been more than two weeks since India's first outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu virus was confirmed in Maharashtra and Gujarat, where thousands of chickens died.

No humans, however, were reported infected and mass culling of poultry in the affected area helped end the outbreak. But for many Indians, the scare is far from over and chicken remains decidedly off the menu.

Nearly half a million chickens have been killed and about 1.3 million eggs destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease in Maharashtra. Health officials also tested thousands of people and fumigated the town at the centre of the outbreak.

Poultry industry officials said an advertisement campaign about the safety of cooked chicken for human consumption has brought around some of the panicked customers.

After the outbreak, Parliament, the railways, army and state-run Indian Airlines removed chicken from their menus.

"Volumes are still down by 40 to 50 percent," said Shashi Kapur, president of the Poultry Federation of India, adding "Many restaurants, hospitals and clubs are still not putting back chicken on their menu yet".

Chicken prices have halved to between 20 and 23 rupees (about 50 US cents) per bird, but industry officials draw solace from their recovery from the 15-rupee level seen shortly after the outbreak.

However, there are signs of recovery for the industry as egg prices have risen to a rupee an egg from 0.75 rupees immediately after the flu outbreak, though still down from about 1.30 rupees earlier.

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Sanjay Dutt
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