At Raising Cane's we have One Love: Great Chicken Fingers. Our vision is to be known worldwide for great-tasting chicken finger meals, great crews and a cool culture. Every day we serve the highest quality chicken finger meals as fast as we can, in a friendly, clean environment–all while having fun! Food safety is part of our culture. Ensuring the health and well-being of our customers and crew is part of what we do every day. Raising Cane's takes pride in its food quality and food safety standards. We are committed to properly handling and preparing the food we serve. Since we serve fresh–never frozen–chicken, we carefully select the chicken producers we work with to ensure that you are getting the highest quality product. Getting the freshest, safest product at all times is of the utmost importance to us. So we understand and share your concern regarding issues such as the avian flu. Recently, our chicken suppliers, Tyson, Gold Kist and Pilgrim's Pride, announced their participation in a national testing effort aimed at ensuring that chicken flocks and food products made from them are free of the highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza. Enhanced bio-security efforts at poultry-producing farms to detect avian influenza as early as possible are designed to eliminate the possibility of the virus entering the food supply. Additionally, we want you to be certain that there is no danger of acquiring avian flu from eating normally and properly prepared chicken. Similar to most types of viruses, avian influenza is destroyed by the heat of typical cooking methods. We, like many others in the food service industry, will continue to monitor this issue closely and keep our customers and crew informed of any new developments. And, should a situation arise, rest assured that Raising Cane's is prepared to take the appropriate action to mitigate the risk to our customers and crew. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT AVIAN INFLUENZA What is avian influenza? Avian influenza (AI) is a disease found among poultry. AI viruses can infect chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese and guinea fowl as well as a wide variety of other birds, including migratory waterfowl. Each year, there is a flu season for birds just as there is for humans and, as with people, some forms of the flu are worse than others. AI viruses, which have been around since about 1900, can be classified into low pathogenic and highly pathogenic forms based on the severity of the illness they cause in poultry. Most AI strains are classified as low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) and cause few clinical symptons in infected birds. In contrast, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) causes a severe and extremely contagious illness, and even death, among infected birds. How is the disease spread? Food establishments in America follow strict guidelines established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for cooking temperatures and practice safe food handling procedures. AI is primarily spread by direct contact between healthy birds and infected birds, and through indirect contact with contaminated equipment and materials. The virus is excreted through the feces of infected birds and through secretions from the beak and eyes. Does proper food handling prevent avian influenza? Yes. If highly pathogenic AI were detected in the U.S., the chance of infected poultry entering the food supply would be extremely low. Proper handling and cooking of poultry provides protection against this virus, as it does against many viruses and bacteria, including salmonella and E. coli. Safe food handling and preparation are important at all times. (Source: United States Department of Agriculture) FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILED INFORMATION ON AVIAN FLU, PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES: United States Department of Agriculture: www.usda.gov |