Hundreds of officials and ordinary citizens sampled the famed chicken satay dish yesterday to show that it was safe to eat poultry after an outbreak of avian flu.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Mohamad Shariff Omar said some 500 people gathered for the meal at a restaurant in Kajang, a suburb south of the nation's capital, which is well-known for the dish.

"The whole purpose is to tell Malaysians that chicken and chicken products are safe so you can eat, you need not worry because there is no H5N1," Mohamad Shariff told AFP , referring to the deadly strain of bird flu.

The H5N1 strain was detected last month in 40 free-range chickens in four villages in the capital in the first outbreak in over a year.

Authorities say the situation is under control after extensive containment measures including culling.

No new case

"After the incident that was in the last month, until now there is no new case with the action taken by our department, so we are very pleased to hear that," said the minister, who was leading the feast.

Mohamad Shariff said the satay meal was part of a government campaign to encourage Malaysians not to shun chicken.

Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin last week said chicken breeders and traders reported sales down by as much as 40 percent since the outbreak.

"We are doing our campaign to help our industry," said Mohamad Shariff.

The minister said satay had been chosen because it was one of the nation's favourite dishes."Come and eat today, it's free of charge," he added.

No human cases of bird flu have so far been reported in Malaysia.