So, It's Not Just the Chlorine and the Hormones!

Much concern has been expressed about declining food standards (and the undercutting of UK agriculure), if a Trade Deal is reached with the US. Most of the attention has focused on chlorine-washed chicken (used to kill bacteria present on the surface of meat as a result of limited care of the birds) and hormone-treated beef (used to stimulate growth of the cows and, hence, profitability). Both are currently banned, under EU regulations. A study by Professor Lance Price of George Washington University in the US, suggests that these might be the least of our problems, if meats flood across the Atlantic (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/10/unacceptable-bacteria-levels-found-on-us-meat-may-fuel-fears-over-uk-trade-deal). He found that 14% of the chicken and 13% of the pork he sampled contained highly dangerous Salmonella. Salmonella causes 1.35 million infections, many hospital admissions and about 420 deaths, in the USA, every year. He also found that 60% of pork, 70% of beef and 90% of chicken samples were contaminated with the human gut bacterium E. coli. That also causes 'food poisoning'. The finding also suggests that chlorine washing chicken is not very effective. MPs would only get any say in the importing of these health hazards after the Trade Deal had been agreed and signed (i.e. the chances of avoiding their import would be minimal). One might add that increasing access to cheap imported meat would also set back attempts to convince people to eat less of this material to help restrict climate change.