South Korea’s spicy fermented cabbage dish, kimchi, could help to cure bird flu, according to researchers. Scientists at Seoul National University say they fed an extract of kimchi to 13 infected chickens - and a week later 11 of them had started recovering. The researchers said the results were far from scientifically proven and if kimchi did have the effects they observed, it was unclear why. South Koreans are reported to be eating more kimchi as a result of the study. “I’m eating kimchi these days because I’ve heard in the media that it helps prevent bird flu infections,” one man said. Love it or loathe it, once you have eaten it, you will never forget it. Kimchi is made by fermenting cabbage with red peppers, radishes and a lot of garlic and ginger. The idea that it could help poultry to fight off bird flu sounds like a dubious folk remedy. But the theory is being floated by some of Korea’s most eminent scientists. “We found that the chickens recovered from bird flu, Newcastle disease and bronchitis. The birds’ death rate fell, they were livelier and their stools became normal,” said Professor Kang Sa-ouk.
