The government has insisted Britain’s food standards would not be compromised after the UK and the US agreed on a trade deal to eliminate a series of tariffs.
Agriculture is a key part of the new trade deal announced on Thursday by Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump. Tariffs have been reduced on US products, including beef and ethanol, in return for moves that help British cars and steel.
After the deal was announced, government sources insisted imports of hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken, previously described as red lines for the UK in any agreement, would remain illegal.
The agreement on beef provides a tariff-free quota for 13,000 tonnes of US exports, but the government said there would be no drop in food standards as a result of the deal. It also includes access to British beef exports to the US.
Chlorine-washed chicken – a controversial method of cleaning farmed animals to kill bacteria – was a major product being touted as part of the deal.
While evidence suggests the chlorine wash itself is not harmful, critics argue treating chicken with the chemical will allow for poorer hygiene earlier on in the production process.
However, Liz Webster, founder of Save British Farming, told The Independent: “The British public is rightly appalled by chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef. We are an animal-loving nation that values high standards, and we must not trade them away.”
But what exactly does the evidence on chlorine-washed chicken show?
Chlorinated chicken or chlorine-washed chicken refers to chicken carcasses that have been washed or dipped in water containing chlorine dioxide. This is done to kill organisms that could make you ill, such as E coli, campylobacter and Salmonella.
Is it bad for me?
If you ate a large amount of chlorinated chicken – the equivalent to 5 per cent of your body weight in one day –you could potentially be exposed to harmful levels of the chemical compound known as chlorate, according to the European Commission.
“Long-term exposure to chlorate in food, particularly in drinking water, is a potential health concern for children, especially those with mild or moderate iodine deficiency,” according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
A high intake of chlorate on a single day could be toxic for humans as it can limit the blood’s ability to absorb oxygen, leading to kidney failure, while chronic exposure to chlorate can inhibit iodine uptake.
However, there is no proof that eating chlorinated chicken would put health at risk. The EFSA has said that chemical substances in poultry meat are unlikely to pose an immediate or acute health risk for consumers.
Is it cleaner than non-chlorinated chicken?
A 2014 report by US non-profit Consumer Reports found that 97 per cent of 300 American chicken breasts tested contained harmful bacteria including Salmonella, campylobacter and E.Coli.
Around half of the chicken breasts tested also contained at least one type of bacteria that was resistant to three or more antibiotics.
In general, you are over seven times more likely to get food poisoning in the US than in the UK, according to data from the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Moreover, a 2018 study from the University of Southampton found chlorine-washing was not totally effective in killing pathogens on fresh vegetables. The research also suggested that chlorinating foods “can make foodborne pathogens undetectable”, rather than eliminating them.
Chlorinated chicken was first banned by the EU in 1997. The EU stipulates that chicken can only be washed in water or substances explicitly approved by the European Commission.
Those who are against chlorine washing claim that, rather than the chlorine itself being the problem, it’s what the chlorine is hiding. Treating the carcasses this way can enable lower standards of hygiene and animal welfare – farmers can rely on chemicals to kill off harmful bacteria at the end of the process, rather than maintaining high standards at every stage.
However, Ken Isley from the US Department of Agriculture, said: “I think the concerns and fear are unfounded. I would stack US food safety and our food safety record against anywhere in the world.”
How can I tell if chicken has been chlorinated?
In the US, chickens are not labelled as having been washed in chlorine.
Some of those lobbying for the UK to accept US imports of chlorine-washed chicken have argued that it should be up to consumers to decide, as long as it’s clearly labelled.
However, according to Sustain, an organisation that campaigns for better food and farming, there is currently “no requirement for food producers to inform UK consumers about whether or not chlorine was used, neither are restaurants nor caterers required to say where their meat is from.”
Unless the limitations of current UK food labelling legislation are addressed, it is hard to see how British consumers would know whether their chicken had been treated with chlorinated water.
The US also regards specific labelling of country of origin as an illegitimate barrier to its exports and pushes to have the practice banned as part of trade agreements it signs with other countries.
Is chlorinated chicken part of a trade deal with the US?
Chlorinated chicken was not included in the trade deal announced by Sir Keir and Mr Trump on Thursday.
Farming leaders welcomed the government’s efforts to maintain high standards and secure reciprocal access for beef but raised concerns about the inclusion of bioethanol, a fuel made from crops, in the deal.
According to the most recent significant polling on the subject, which was carried out in 2020, 80 per cent of the British public are against allowing imports of chlorinated chicken, and the same percentage are against permitting chicken products that have been raised with hormones.
Following pressure from the British public, former prime ministers Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were compelled to rule out compromises on hormone-fed beef and chlorinated chicken in future trade deal negotiations with the US.
