Minister James Brokenshire says he would eat chlorinated chicken in UK
A Home Office minister has refused to rule out eating chlorinated chicken if it were sold in the UK after Brexit’s transition period ends.
Security minister James Brokenshire did not reject the idea that he would eat chlorine-washed chicken, if authorities in the UK gave it the green light, telling LBC he was “not a food expert”.
His comments come after City A.M. last week exclusively revealed that the government was considering taking its own stance on food safety at an upcoming WTO meeting on sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS).
Sources indicated that the question of whether to back practices such as peracetic acid – which is more commonly used by US poultry farmers than chlorine washes – was on the radar.
Asked about the government’s stance on chlorinated chicken during the Sunday morning broadcast round, environment secretary George Eustice stressed the government was committed to high standards for food safety and for animal welfare. But he refused to give an absolute assurance that the current rules would remain.
“We’ve got a clear position in this country that it is illegal to sell chlorine-washed chicken, illegal to sell beef treated with hormones. We’ve no plans to change those things,” he told Sky.
In a separate interview with the BBC, Eustice said there was “room for a sensible discussion” with the US on lactic acid washes.
This morning the Prime Minister’s spokesman referred to Eustice’s comments, adding: “The UK has long been a world leader on food safety and animal welfare… We have been clear will uphold those standards after we leave the EU.”