Thread: Grocery Industry Prepares For Bird Flu

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070219/ap_ ... _groceries -

Grocery industry prepares for bird flu By TIMBERLY ROSS, Associated Press Writer
Mon Feb 19, 12:07 AM ET



OMAHA, Neb. - Stocking up on food is as simple as a trip to the grocery store, a veritable land of plenty for Americans. But will fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, bread, milk and other household staples still be available if the U.S. is hit with an anticipated bird flu pandemic? If state and federal officials urge people to stay away from public places, like restaurants and fast-food establishments, will they be able to get the groceries they need to prepare food in their homes

For Becky Jones of Omaha, who stocks up once a week for her family of three, the prospect of not having access to food is frightening. She said most people, herself included, only have food on hand for three or four days.

Unlike other critical infrastructure sectors like water, energy and health care, the food industry isn't getting much help from state and federal governments when it comes to disaster planning. That puts the burden on individual supermarket chains and wholesalers to deal with a potentially large number of sick workers that could affect store operations and disrupt the food supply.

"The industry is actively thinking through contingency plans, so if it should happen, our members would be well prepared to deal with it," said Tim Hammonds, president of the Food Marketing Institute, an advocate for grocery wholesalers and retail supermarkets nationwide.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates a third of the population could fall ill if the H5N1 strain of the bird flu mutates into a form that spreads easily from person to person. It's not clear if that will ever happen and no human cases of bird flu have ever been traced to eating properly cooked poultry or eggs.

But if a pandemic emerges, the Department of Homeland Security projects worker absenteeism to reach 40 percent or more over a prolonged period. Hammonds said retail food stores would have to contend with worker shortages and disruptions in the supply chain.

The food and agriculture industry is listed among 13 critical-infrastructure sectors that the Department of Homeland Security says must remain functional during a pandemic.

"Having those critical facilities open — like power, water, food — becomes very important" during a national disaster such as a pandemic, said Keith Hanson, an outreach coordinator for Nebraska's Center for Biopreparedness Education.

Hanson works with local businesses, helping test their preparedness plans. He will speak about the importance of that testing at the Public Health Preparedness Summit in Washington, an annual conference designed to help public health workers prepare for emergencies. This year's meeting started Friday and ends Feb. 23.

Hanson said continued operations of power and water utilities are of the utmost importance, but grocery stores rank highly too. That's because people today keep less food on hand, opting instead to make weekly trips to the grocery store.

Americans are also dining out more than they have in the past. Money spent on food prepared outside the home rose from 34 percent of total food costs in 1974 to about 50 percent in 2004, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Food Marketing Institute's Hammonds said a widespread pandemic will likely cause food consumption to shift away from restaurants and fast-food establishments and toward in-home eating, causing a greater demand for groceries.

"That means stores would need to be prepared for an increase in volume," he said.

Hy-Vee, a West Des Moines, Iowa-based supermarket chain that operates more than 200 stores in the Midwest, does not have a disaster plan developed in the event of avian flu. But company spokeswoman Chris Friesleben said the company keeps abreast of the illness through the Food Marketing Institute.

"The food supply is essential to the well-being of the community," said Hammonds. "We've been through a lot about what we need to do as a supermarket."

That includes urging wholesalers and retailers to talk with their suppliers about alternative sources for their products and to anticipate what products will be in high demand in a pandemic situation, such as medicines and food staples.

Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for Omaha-based ConAgra Foods Inc., said a company task force was formed more than a year ago to develop an operating plan in the event of a national disaster. The plan specifically addresses bird flu, examines areas that could be affected and how the company could respond, she said.

ConAgra is one of the nation's largest food companies, with brand names that include ACT II popcorn, Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Marie Callender's, Egg Beaters and Orville Redenbacher's.

The company employs about 27,000 people, but Homeland Security projections indicate that number could fall to 16,200 during a pandemic.

Childs said such worker shortages and difficulties with suppliers getting their products to ConAgra plants were among the potential problems the company identified. She did not disclose how the company would address those issues.

The federal government and public health agencies are urging people to stock up on nonperishable food, like canned goods and dried fruit, to ensure they have to food to eat during a pandemic.

Jones, the Omaha woman, said that's a proactive approach, but was worried that people with limited incomes may not be able to afford a large stockpile of food.

She stopped short of calling for the government to oversee the food industry's pandemic planning, but said, "If they see a crisis that is on the horizon, they do have to give us some type of warning."

___

On the Net:

Food Marketing Institute: http://www.fmi.org/foodsafety/avian_flu.htm

Center for Biopreparedness Education: http://www.bioprepare.org/

Pandemic flu information from the U.S. government: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

Email Story IM Story Printable View (What happened to the "Discuss" option?) RECOMMEND THIS STORY
Recommend It: Not at All Somewhat Moderately Highly Very Highly Average (27 votes)
» Recommended Stories

I hate to belabor the issue, but there is already a product on the market that I have been using for several years that has been demonstrated to be 99% effective against the H5N1 Avian Influenza virus. Below is one of the many articles available about recent lab results with Sambucol, made by Razei Bar Industries of Israel and sold in the US by Nature's Way. My personal experience is that the product will knock out most flu bugs in less than a day with a typical recovery time of about half a day for noticeable diminution of symptoms. The only side effect that I have noted is that prolonged use may cause slight stomach irritation. Best of all, you can buy a bottle of the liquid (good for 25 to 40 doses) or lozenges (30 doses) for as little as $6 and change. I recommend http://www.vitacost.com for the best prices.

Breaking News on Supplements & Nutrition - Europe



Sambucol fights bird flu virus in lab

By Dominique Patton

26/01/2006- Sambucol, a standardized extract of black elderberry, has been found to fight the avian flu virus H5N1, revealed British researchers last week.

A team at Retroscreen Virology, an institute associated with the University of London, said that the extract was at least 99 per cent effective against the H5N1 virus and significantly neutralized the infectivity of the virus in cell cultures.
Dr Madeleine Mumcuoglu, the Israel-based developer of Sambucol, said the good results confirmed her earlier findings on the product, which is currently marketed around the world as a natural supplement for fighting common flu.

“It is active against lots of different types of flu viruses and I did my PhD on its effect on a non-virulent strain of bird flu so the results did not surprise me,” she told NutraIngredients.com.

“But I’m very happy with these results, especially as the work was done by Dr John Oxford, a reputable specialist in flu,” she added.

Dr Mumcuoglu stressed that the results could in no way demonstrate a benefit for humans infected with the bird flu strain that has killed more than 70 people, mostly in South East Asia, since the outbreak began in 2003. Nor will she be able to test it in a human trial.

But she is looking into starting an animal trial using ferrets, which have similar flu symptoms to humans.

Dr Mumcuoglu added that bird flu is still a lower threat than common flu, thought to kill about 25,000 people in the UK alone each year through complications.

While the new bird flu results might boost sales of Sambucol, it is the evidence from two human clinical trials on human flu that has created a significant market for the product. The double blind, placebo-controlled studies – the first done in Israel, and the second in Norway – both found that people who took the elderberry supplement got rid of flu in half the time of the placebo group, or after two to three days compared to about six.

Dr Mumcuoglu says Sambucol blunts the haemaglutinin spikes on the outside of viruses and stops them from entering cells where they reproduce, cause the cell to explode and allow the virus to continue invading the body.

An in vitro study has also shown Sambucol to be effective in increasing the production of four inflammatory cytokines, suggesting that the supplement may have an immuno-stimulatory effect and therefore be worth taking all year round to prevent flu and other disease.

Jerusalem-based Razei Bar Industries now produces more than 1.5 million bottles of Sambucol syrup, with average growth of 10 per cent each year.

"I didn’t invent anything," claims Dr Mumcuoglu. "Elderberry has been known from the beginning of time. What people didn’t know is what the active ingredient is, how to keep it intact and how to formulate to keep it active."

This active substance has not been patented to protect the firm's market. While several copycat products are available in healthstores, Razei Bar says it has tested several of these and found none of the active ingredient.

The new laboratory results were presented at a press conference held in the Royal Society of Medicine, London last week. Another trial is now underway at Hadassah Medical Organization Ein Kerem in Israel.

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/ ... frame=true

Keep telling poeple CG. It's important information.