US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has suggested that chlorinated chicken will be on the menu as part of a post-Brexit trade agreement.
Talking to LBC he accepted there will be “real contentious issues around agriculture”, but said “we need to be open and honest about competitiveness”.
Responding to a question on whether chlorinated chicken would be part of the deal demanded by the US, he said:
“We need to make sure we don’t use food safety as a ruse to try and protect a particular industry.
“And then we need to have hard conversations about the places we have opportunities to give and take and then deliver on outcomes that benefit the agricultural sector – and most importantly consumers who are going to be the net beneficiaries of these really good deals.”
“It is imperative that our food values are upheld”
Last year the National Farmers’ Union warned that food imports such as chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef must not be allowed on to supermarket shelves after Brexit.
President Minette Batters said:
“In Britain, we have some of the highest standards of animal welfare, environmental protection and food safety in the world.
“Our farmers have worked hard to earn this place on the global stage and are rightly proud of their reputation.
“It is imperative that our food values are upheld as we enter into international trade negotiations with parties such as the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
“We cannot risk betraying these values by allowing food imports such as chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef – food that has been produced in ways that are illegal here – on to our supermarket shelves.”
Related: Brexiteers can have their moment, it’s all downhill from here
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