The top management of Kentucky Fried Chicken's Qianmen
restaurant held a news briefing Thursday to assure customers that
the food served at his restaurant, the first KFC restaurant to open
on China's mainland 17 years ago, was safe from bird flu.
Similar news briefings were also held Thursday in Guangzhou,
capital of south China's Guangdong Province, and north China's
Tianjin Municipality.
Colin Tan, general manager of KFC Beijing, told Xinhua Thursday
that chicken meat served in all mainland-based KFC outlets are from
birds raised locally, and all the 30 KFC chicken suppliers are
required to provide complete quarantine and inspection certificates
upon delivery to KFC.
The manager admitted bird flu has somewhat affected KFC's
chicken supply but said the current supply can meet demand.
"KFC is not considering changing the current prices or
substituting other materials such as fish for chicken," said
Tan.
In fact, many other restaurants and food-related industries on
the mainland have taken similar steps to strengthen customers'
confidence about eating poultry meat, stressing that strict
quarantine and inspection measures have been taken across the
country.
In response to the deadly bird flu, the Beijing-based Quanjude
Roast Duck Restaurant, famous for its crisp and appetizing Beijing
Duck, has narrowed its duck sources to nearby regions where no bird
flu cases have been reported, and demands that its suppliers
provide standard quarantine certificates.
Statistics show that recent sales at the duck restaurant remain
the same on a year-on-year basis.
A notice recently released by the China Cuisine Association
banned sales of raw and medium-done poultry-related dishes in the
country, leading to an immediate decrease in the availability of
chicken-based cold dishes, soup and hotpots in restaurants across
the country.
However, some Chinese gourmands remain loyal to their tastes,
despite the danger of catching the deadly virus.
Although daily sales of "Duck Neck," a specialty of Wuhan in
central China's Hubei Province, dropped from the previous 20
baskets a day to 12 at the Jingwu Duck Neck Shop, one of the most
frequently visited duck neck outlets in the city, quite a number of
local residents still can not resist the temptation of the
delicately cooked duck neck.
"Government departments will safeguard us against eating
virus-tainted duck necks", a Mr. Wang said while queuing to buy
Jingwu duck necks Thursday.
The Ministry of Health recently released an emergency notice
demanding strict inspections and quarantine checks on poultry
markets across China.
Beijing and Shanghai cities, and Hubei and Hunan provinces have
banned dealing in poultry products without quarantine certificates
and demanded regular sterilization checks in restaurants and
markets.
Hu Ping, an official from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of
Commerce, said Thursday that the capital city is capable of meeting
local residents' demands for bird-flu-free poultry products, and
customers can "eat poultry products sold in Beijing without any
worries whatsoever."
(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2004)