Eat Hearty! You Won't Get Bird Flu!

The Center for Consumer Freedom--an advocacy group backed by restaurants and food companies that says its mission is to counteract the "growing cabal of 'food cops,' health care enforcers, militant activists, meddling bureaucrats, and violent radicals who think they know 'what's best for you"--wants Uncle Sam to tell Americans that there's no avian flu risk from downing a bucket of fried chicken. The group sponsored a survey which found that 47 percent of Americans think eating an infected chicken can give you the disease.

That's preposterous, says David Martosko, CCF’s director of research. "Even if an infected bird reached the U.S. food supply, properly cooking it would kill the avian influenza virus. Our government should be reminding Americans of this on a regular basis." Oh, sure, that should do the trick: "Hey Americans, that chicken you're eating could have come from a flu-ridden bird. But don't worry, if it's properly cooked, you're in the clear!"