A local pub, The Golden Fleece has a new sign up behind the bar which reassures restaurant customers that no Bernard Mathews products are used in their kitchen.

Funny how a couple of weeks ago the giant turkey factory was being praised for its tight biosecurity, but now the facts are coming out and the damage limitation excercise is looking very shaky.

Incredibly, it now seems that the company had been importing turkey meat from nearby the bird flu outbreak in Hungary, and then leaving bits of it around in the open air, right next to the largest concentration of turkey rearing sheds in Europe.

TimesOnline
Matthews could be prosecuted over hygiene at bird flu factory

Bernard Matthews could face prosecution over sloppy biosecurity at the Holton factory in Suffolk where the avian flu virus infected turkey chicks and 160,000 birds had to be destroyed.
…
Problems with gulls feeding from open waste bins was first raised with Bernard Matthews management last year by its own firm of pest controllers. They had also identified holes and openings in rearing sheds that could easily allow a bird or a rodent to mix with chicks and for water or bird droppings to get into enclosed units.

Meat Hygiene Service records also reveal that inspectors issued warnings about a range of “deficiencies and noncompliance”. Though not specified, they are also related to possible breaches of animal byproduct regulations.

Bernard Matthews was served another warning last month about problems on the site. Pest control reports on January 10 and January 24 noted that gulls were carrying meat scraps half a kilometre away and then roosting on the top of the farm sheds. Poly-thene bags containing meat products and residual liquids were also thrown into the open bins and were easily blown across the site. Birds or rats may also have infected wood shavings that are stored outdoors and used to refresh bedding inside the sheds.

Bernard Matthews loses sales | Telegraph

One of the biggest ongoing surveys of consumer confidence yesterday revealed that Bernard Matthews was now the least respected and trusted brand in Britain.

Whilst extending sympathy for the plight of portuguese TGWU members in East Anglia, it really couldn’t have happened to a nicer brand – Bernard Mathews – the people who created the market for feeding schoolchildren with disgusting cheap junk food in the shape of golden drummers, turkey dinosaurs, and twizzlers.

When I wrote on Monday 5th ( Wild birds not to blame ) about the Lorries from Hungary, mainstream media were still reporting the sparrow through the ventilation shaft story, and the Bernard Mathews offcial line seemed to be that the outbreak of H5N1 in Hungary was not connected in any way. “All our birds are British,” he said. “The fact that we have a Hungarian operation is immaterial”

Now the truth is beginning to emerge .

Bernard Matthews, Britain’s largest turkey producer, imports 37 tonnes of partly-processed turkey meat from Hungary every week

And now the Telegraph reports

Supermarkets are facing a possible nationwide recall of processed turkey products in an attempt to halt the spread of bird flu.

What are processed turkey products?

From Is Bernard Matthews stuffed?

He invented the “self-basting” Golden Norfolk Turkey, to address the bird’s tendency to produce dried-out meat. And he followed that over the next two decades with products rejoicing in names such as Turkey Breast Roast, Turkey Fillets, Crispy Crumb Turkey Steaks, Golden Drummers, Mini Kievs and – dubious though middle-class parents may have found it – the UK’s first shaped poultry product for children, Turkey Dinosaurs.

….Turkey Twizzlers – became the object of the chef Jamie Oliver‘s scorn. He singled them out for criticism in his campaign to improve the nation’s school dinners in his television series Jamie’s School Dinners. The product, in which processed turkey was combined with pork fat, contained – Oliver complained – outrageously unhealthy levels of saturated fat. The firm dropped the product, a move that coincided with a £13m drop in operating profits.

Bernard Matthews is the No 1 brand of cooked meats in the UK – one pack of its Wafer Thin Turkey Ham is sold every second, perhaps as a low calorie or cheap alternative to real ham.

What is turkey ham made from? Well it turns out that is does contain some turkey, but no pork meat. There is a cow product though, about one third water, and far too much salt. Ingredients:

“turkey (60%), water, salt, stabilisers, potato & rice starch, milk protein, dextrose, whey protein, flavouring, antioxidant, acidity regulator, flavouring, preservative, yeast extract, garlic” So that’s what turkey ham is made from.

Here we go again – just like with BSE (mad cow disease) in the 90s and the more recent foot and mouth outbreak, some countries can’t wait to jump at the opportunity to start erecting non-tariff trade barriers.

Russia, Japan ban British poultry over bird flu – washingtonpost.com
Russians officials said Moscow would ban British poultry imports from Tuesday to prevent the spread of bird flu. Japan also banned British poultry imports while Ireland barred the import of poultry from Britain for “gatherings and shows.”

I blogged the news this morning about the bird flu in Suffolk but now the story has become altogether much more serious.

The Guardian reports that the results of further tests are out and it has been comfirmed that the potentially deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found among turkeys in a Bernard Matthews poultry farm in Suffolk.

Bernard Mathews is Europe’s largest turkey factory.

All 159,000 turkeys on the affected poultry farm will be slaughtered as a precaution and they are hopeful the outbreak will be contained.

The news release from DEFRA is also online now:

Tests from the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) have confirmed that the sample from the poultry found dead on a farm near Lowestoft in Suffolk did contain the H5N1 avian flu virus. Further tests are underway to determine whether the strain of the virus is similar to that found in Asia. Results are expected later today.

Fred Landeg, the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer said:

“I urge keepers of birds to be vigilant, to take care if handling birds which appear to be unwell and to observe high levels of biosecurity. Owners that suspect disease, should act quickly consult their vet. Avian influenza is a notifiable disease and must be reported to the local Divisional Veterinary Manager in the State Veterinary Service”

There is no reason for public health concern. Avian Influenza is a disease of birds and whilst it can pass very rarely and with difficulty, to humans this requires extremely close contact with infected birds, particularly faeces

To find out more about H5N1 and avian influenza, there is the bird flu wiki and also the Avian Flu Watch group on Flickr.

For a wryly written but perceptive piece there’s also Bird flu: we’re all going to die at The Register.