Sir; In his letter (The Grocer, February 5, p18), Peter Bradnock said we were incorrect in our assertion a third of British chickens have salmonella. This figure is, in fact, an estimate but our source was a report from the publication Sustain. We would be interested if Bradnock could point us in the right direction to get the accurate figures. In Denmark, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries currently publishes figures for salmonella in Danish chickens but we've been unable to track down figures for the UK from a similar source. We have salmonella free chickens because we abide by the regulations laid down by the Danish authorities, therefore we are able to claim our chickens are salmonella free. If Bradnock wishes to find out more about this, he should visit our home page: www.danpo.com. There he will also learn our chickens are also free of antibiotic growth promoters and that this is due to a voluntary agreement signed by all Danish chicken producers in February 1998, supervised by the Danish authorities. As far as animal welfare is concerned, Danpo can offer extensive indoor (barn) chickens that are also recommended by the Danish Animal Welfare Society (DAWS) and based on the directive of the European Union. The control of the chickens is carried out by DAWS and the official veterinary representative at the slaughterhouse. We have on our web site a mini portrait of our barn reared chicken producers ­ currently only available on the Danish site ­ but it would be nice to offer it to the British as well. Jens G Friis, Director Danpo {{LETTERS }}

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