THE BSE-induced panic over human health has obscured the fact that the real losers are once again farm animals - and not just sheep and cattle.

Chickens and turkeys will be the main victims of any switch to other flesh foods - 700 million of these poor abused birds already end up on British dinner plates every year after horrendous deaths and short miserable lives in confinement.

But with poultry products so widely infested - with salmonella, campylobacter and E coli, killing hundreds of Britons every year - the search is on for other animals to satisfy our craving for flesh food.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of people ready to make a 'fast buck' in the farming of ostriches, emus, llamas, kangaroos, alligators and other 'exotic' meats. The increasing factory farming of these animals is already causing them physical and emotional problems, accompanied by genetic manipulation experienced by other intensively reared animals.

How long before they too are the subject of a major public health scare?

As consumers, we have the power to stop further animal suffering and ensure higher quality products from the food industry by switching to a vegetarian diet, which is healthier, ecologically more sustainable and kinder to the animals with whom we share the planet.

TONI VERNELLI, UK representative, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PO Box 3169, London.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.