IDFL in the News
CNN Report on Feather or Avian Flu
(CNN) -- The emerging threat of bird flu has stirred concern among public health experts around the world, but has had no discernible impact on sales in the United States of products containing down and feathers, which have long been covered by safety precautions, experts say.
"Market conditions appear to be the same this year as they were last year," said Wilford Lieber, president of the International Down and Feather Laboratory and Institute, an independent testing laboratory and support system for the feather and down industry.
For him, business is always down: IDFL facilities outside Zurich, Switzerland, near Shanghai, China, and in Salt Lake City, Utah, test about 7,000 feather and down samples per year, grading the products for down-versus-feather content, insulating powers and cleanliness.
All down and feathers sold in the United States must have been sterilized at 130 degrees C for about 30 minutes, more than sufficient to kill any virus the material may have harbored, Lieber said. (Posted 2:33 p.m.)
Getting their fill: Salt Lake testing facility stays downright busy
With the temperature hovering in the mid-90s, a lone truck driver hauled a few big boxes into a nondescript building. They held just what the folks inside had been waiting for: winter coats.
The coats, ranging from hot pink to camouflage, were needed so that the company could . . . get down. ... more >>
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