Can kimchi cure bird flu?
That’s the question raised in today’s Washington Post Business section front–page story by Elissa Silverman. She wrote that the first sign that something was up was noted by Washington, D.C.–area Korean groceries, where kimchi sales suddenly spiked a few months ago. “Ho Jin Lee, president of Kim Chee Pride, Inc. of Maspeth, New York, which supplies kimchi on the East Coast, said sales jumped 20% this year.” The inciting factor? The publication of a study by South Korean researcher Kang Sa–Ouk of Seoul National University last spring which found that 11 of 13 chickens infected with avian flu virus recovered after being given kimchi juice. Here’s the Post article. Kimchi Sales Rise on Link to Possible Bird Flu Cure Moon K. Yoon sensed something was up about two months ago when the 16-ounce jars of kimchi started moving quickly from the shelves of the Lotte Plaza International Supermarket in Fairfax, a sign that interest in the spicy cabbage dish had moved beyond the Korean customers who
