Poultry supplies should not be affected by the current outbreak of avian bird flu in Eastern Europe, according to a leading food supplier.
A spokesman for Brakes said the company was closely monitoring the situation, but added it was too early to predict what shortages would occur if the disease spread across Europe.
He added that Turkey and Romania were not key suppliers and that Brakes sourced poultry from a wide range of countries. He reassured customers that large quantities of Christmas supplies had already been frozen.
Peter Bradnock, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, said the Government still regarded the risk to the UK as low as the country was only a minor migration path for wild birds. He was confident any outbreak among flocks could be contained locally.
The European Commission has banned imports of live birds, poultry meat and products from Romania and Turkey, where the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease was confirmed earlier this week.
On Tuesday there was evidence that the disease could have spread to a turkey farm on the Greek island of Oinouses off the Turkish coast. Tests were under way to establish whether it was the H5N1.
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