MANILA – The operator of the largest roasted chicken chain, which also supplies fresh dressed chicken all over the country, assured the public on Tuesday that its chicken products are safe and none of its farms is affected by the Avian Flu virus.
Bounty Agro Ventures, Inc. (BAVI) issued the guarantee amid the avian flu outbreak that has affected farms in Central Liuzon and spaked a nationwide alert.
BAVI President and General Manager Ronald R. Mascariñas said in an interview the company has long prepared for bird flu. “We have set up our operations specifically to protect ourselves and our customers against these types of eventualities. We are taking the avian flu situation seriously and we will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that our products continue to be safe for public consumption.”
To allay the consumers’ fears, BAVI listed down some facts about avian flu.
1) The bird flu virus is very unstable and can be killed through proper sanitation and use of ordinary chemicals like alcohol.
2) The virus cannot survive in temperatures above 70° C or 158° F. Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters and Reyal are cooked at temperatures way above this, BAVI pointed out.
3) Direct contact with wild birds which may carry the bird flu virus must be avoided.
4) Only chicken meat that has passed inspection of the National Meat Inspection Services (NMIS) should be bought.
BAVI pointed out that although a few strains are transmittable to humans, all tests done in the country to date confirmed that none of these strains are in the country. The virus is affecting birds in infected farms but not humans in direct contact with infected chicken.
“Let us all work together to disseminate the correct information about the bird flu virus and avoid spreading misinformation. This is the least that we can do to help the government and the poultry industry,” said Mascariñas.
BAVI operates the largest roasted chicken chain in the country Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters and Reyal with around 2,000 stores nationwide. It is also the country’s second largest poultry integrator with poultry farms and feed mills all over the country.
Earlier, other major chicken suppliers and fast-food chains that use large volumes of chicken gave similar assurances to the public.