Fears of a consumer backlash preoccupied poultry producers as they admitted that a potential fall in sales of turkey and chicken after the bird flu outbreak was a threat to the £3.4bn poultry industry – despite assurances from government officials that eating white meat was safe.

Peter Bradnock, the chief executive of the British Poultry Council, said some consumers might be “deterred” from buying meat following the discovery of the H5N1 strain at Bernard Matthews, the turkey producer.