BERLIN European consumers may be spooked over a rash of livestock illnesses but German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Wednesday he still is eating his beloved sausages.

Asked at a news conference whether illnesses among cattle such as mad cow disease and foot and mouth disease had shaken his confidence in the safety of meat he said: "My eating habits are unchanged, and I eat meat."

He added that he relished curry sausages -- a Berlin delicacy -- and recommended that reporters try one at a popular snack stand in an eastern district, AFP reported.

The German beef market has collapsed since the first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), was discovered in a German-born animal in November.