Reply #8: Hey, I'm all for caution and prudence. [View All]

But the whole art of risk-management lies understanding the probabilities that a given risk poses. This is because there are literally thousands of potential threats to one's well-being everyday. Unless one has unlimited resources, overguarding is just as bad as underguarding.



The actual source of bird flu is known. It's a virus. It's a particularly nasty virus. But it's a virus nonetheless.

I agree with you that one would be wise to consider all potential vectors of transmission.

Since most of us don't raise birds, the biggest vector we have to worry about is person-to-person contact. Considering the number of colds and regular flu cases we collectively catch each year from ordinary vectors, the exotic food vector ranks pretty low in the big picture.

One case of potentially ingested transmission is worth noting. I never advocated dismissing anything.

However, considering all the virii that get passed around on doorknobs, handshakes, faucet handles, banisters, elevator buttons, flying boogers, cough splatter, and kisses, my own risk analysis suggests I should worry about other things first before worrying about a cooked food.

You'd have a better chance of catching bird flu from a fellow diner who recently travelled to an infected area than from cooked chicken feet.

Not all chicken feet are imported, let alone smuggled. Most chicken feet comes from American poultry farms (which can be nasty for an unrelated reason).

And how many of us here eat chicken feet regularly anyway? Most folks I know eat it only occassionally, if at all.





And if any diners suspect a restaurant isn't cooking chicken feet thoroughly, that alone is enough to warrant eating elsewhere... bird flu or no bird flu.