15/02/2007

Matthews says bird flu scare was not his fault

Bernard Matthews, whose poultry firm was at the heart of the recent bird flu outbreak in Britain, has apologised for the scare, but insisted it was not his fault.

In an article published by the Daily Mirror newspaper, he insisted Bernard Matthews Plc had not imported turkey from restricted areas in Hungary, where the same strain of bird flu was found in geese.

Matthews said: "I am sorry for any confusion but this has not been of our making. As a company who take these matters extremely seriously, I am confident all proper procedures were followed and we responded accordingly in good time. There has been absolutely no cover up at our end. I've been upset about allegations that we may have withheld information. That is completely untrue."

Matthews said any link to his business in Hungary was being thoroughly investigated.

(CD)

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