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■自上月19日起， 香港街市雞檔恢復售本地活雞。資料圖片
長沙灣家禽批發市場19日恢復運作，2.5萬隻本地活雞供應市場，當中不少是「嘉美雞」，儘管不少適齡雞批發價較禁售前為高，但很快全部沽清，顯示本港市民食活雞習慣難以改變。事實上，本港現時註冊雞場皆以全密封式運作，全部雞隻皆有接種最新型號疫苗，且受法例嚴格監管，安全性有保障。當局可在政策上對本地家禽飼養業界加以扶助，提升本地養雞業，以應對市民食活雞習慣。
市民認為活雞肉質腍、滑、香俱全，廣東菜「無活雞不成宴」。香港飲食天堂美譽，在一定程度上也離不開活雞。香港食活雞不僅是一種習慣，已演變成一種文化。不久前一項民調發現，近六成受訪市民不贊成全面永久禁售活雞，另有五成人贊成只禁內地雞。
當然，若一日在港飼養家禽，一日都難以避免要面對禽流感風險。若在努力提升本地養雞業的情況下，本地活雞仍不幸發現禽流感病毒，那真的需要共同討論本港是否仍然要維持吃活雞這一飲食習慣。本港市民以往曾每日進食超過10萬隻活雞，但在1997年爆發禽流感後，到現時每日進食活雞少於2萬隻。這說明食活雞習慣和文化也是可以慢慢演變的。
Raise the standard of local poultry industry to cope with the habit of live chicken consumption
Cheung Sha Wan poultry wholesale market resumed operation on 19 February, supplying 25,000 local live chickens on the market. Among these, a large number were Kamei chickens. Although the wholesale price of many right age chickens was higher than that before the ban, the chickens were sold out very quickly. This shows that to change Hong Kong people's habit of consuming live chickens is difficult. Now, all registered chicken farms in Hong Kong are operating in a completely enclosed environment and all the chickens are vaccinated with the latest version of vaccine. These chicken farms are monitored strictly by law and the chickens are guaranteed safe for consumption. The authorities should give more support to the local poultry industry through policies to help upgrade the local chicken industry and so cope with the citizens' habit of consuming live chickens.
Citizens in general find the meat of live chicken tender, smooth and flavorful. A typical Cantonese feast cannot do without a dish prepared with live chicken. Hong Kong is renowned as a gourmet paradise and the reputation is to a certain extent attributed to dishes cooked with live chickens. Consuming live chickens is more than just a habit here; it has developed into a culture. Not long ago, a public survey found that nearly 60% of the respondents did not agree to totally banning the sale of live chickens permanently and 50% agreed to banning only chickens from the mainland.
Certainly, the risk of a bird flu pandemic cannot be ruled out as long as live poultry are raised in Hong Kong. If rigorous efforts have been made to raise the standard of the chicken rearing industry, and bird flu virus is still unfortunately found in local live chickens, then there will be a real need to have a general discussion on whether the Hong Kong residents here should stick with the habit of consuming live chickens. People in Hong Kong had a record of consuming more than 100,000 live chickens daily in the past. Since the outbreak of bird flu in 1997, the figure now falls to below 20,000. This shows that the dietary habit and dining culture can be gradually changed over time.（節自香港《文匯報》2月20日）
■English Translation by Tung-ming
[ tungming23@gmail.com ]
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