Despite promises and assurances to the contrary, this current Government is already proceeding with watering down protections, scrutiny and accountability around our food standards.

In this weeks Farmers Guardian a report by the Future British Standards Coalition has highlighted that, while our attention has been diverted by the pandemic, rules governing antibiotic and hormone use, as well as use of antimicrobial washes, genetically modified organisms and food additives have been moved from primary to secondary legislation, making them easier for the Government to change.

Several hundred medicines, including antibiotics which are restricted or banned from use in food producing animals have been 'removed from the UK statute book'. So that now Ministers will be able to alter the ban on chlorinated chicken without a vote in Parliament, contrary to Government promises, and have the power to alter food standards without democratic accountability or scrutiny over trade deals.

A proposed US-UK trade deal threatens progress made by UK farmers on antibiotic resistance, and in a recent report 'Maximum Growth Whatever the Cost', even if hormone treated beef were banned it would not be enough to protect UK consumers from US beef, pork and poultry that routinely use four antibiotics which have been banned in the UK for all purposes.

Whether we like it or not the shysters will literally thrust antibiotic restistance down our throats in desperation to sneak a deal in through the back door.

I would suggest posting that on one of the big Brexit threads but it would make no bleedin' difference. We Project Fear whinging remoaners always knew this was exactly the kind of thing that was going happen (I'm not the only one who has pointed out what "cutting through the red tape" means in the real world - destroying consumer protections) and the happy-clappy leavers won't give a damn - cos, y'know, it's a small price to pay for taking back control and wresting our sovereignty out of the clutches of those frightful foreign types.

These small prices are really adding up, though, aren't they?

Chicken in wine (coq au vin)? = Good.

Coronation Chicken? = Acceptable (just).

Chlorinated chicken? = Sacré Bleu!! Non! Non! Non!

French wine & coq au vin or greasy fried chlorinated chicken with a 100% sugar milkshake? Mmmmm tricky choice!

Chicken in wine (coq au vin)? = Good.

Coronation Chicken? = Acceptable (just).

Chlorinated chicken? = Sacré Bleu!! Non! Non! Non!

French wine & coq au vin or greasy fried chlorinated chicken with a 100% sugar milkshake? Mmmmm tricky choice!

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Lactic acid bathed poultry EU acceptable
Lactic acid bathed beef and lamb EU acceptable
Lactic acid bathed Pork EU acceptable

All done in the EU since 2013 fir the same reasons that the USA uses chlorine. Next time you go and buy your joint of pork from denmark over xmas look at the label. It will say Pork yes that should be there. Then water, salt in brackets that's where its tumbled under vacume and pressure for the water to go into the meat. The salt opens the pours on the skin. Last and to the point it will say lactic acid. That's where it's been bathed to kill pathogenic bacteria on the skin. Same as the USA

Or be a smug vegetarian of some 35 years like me!

Anyway, whatever the relative merits, it's very pleasing to see that, for once in a blue moon, some negative food-related idea (viz. "chlorinated chicken") has stuck in the public consciousness that's not some shameless Sun/Daily Mail/Brussels-era Boris Johnson anti-EU lie such as straightening bananas or renaming sausages with lines straight out of Yes, Minister several decades earlier.

Ha, I just did a search and those are the very two that are highlighted (with links to others) on a Wikipedia page called Euromyth!

The British sausage as an "Emulsified High Fat Offal Tube"

A 1984 episode of the satirical television programme Yes Minister included a plot line where the commission was to require the renaming of the British sausage as an "emulsified high fat offal tube", on account of it not containing enough meat.

Regardless, I think we all know that chlorinated chicken is just the tip of a very dirty deregulatory iceberg.

Or be a smug vegetarian of some 35 years like me!

Anyway, whatever the relative merits, it's very pleasing to see that, for once in a blue moon, some negative food-related idea (viz. "chlorinated chicken") has stuck in the public consciousness that's not some shameless Sun/Daily Mail/Brussels-era Boris Johnson anti-EU lie such as straightening bananas or renaming sausages with lines straight out of Yes, Minister several decades earlier.

Ha, I just did a search and those are the very two that are highlighted (with links to others) on a Wikipedia page called Euromyth!

The British sausage as an "Emulsified High Fat Offal Tube"

A 1984 episode of the satirical television programme Yes Minister included a plot line where the commission was to require the renaming of the British sausage as an "emulsified high fat offal tube", on account of it not containing enough meat.

Regardless, I think we all know that chlorinated chicken is just the tip of a very dirty deregulatory iceberg.

It was only three years ago that I spent a whole night undertaking back traces for certain dated item that's called weigh bags. There full of things like herbs etc rhat go into every manufactured type of food. I was searching for them where they came from Holland and a chemical had been used that causes cancer and is used as a flea killer. It had contaminated eggs and the weigh bags had egg powder in them. With it being a large company in Holland that made them there was hundreds of companys searching for this egg powder.
Now there is no evidence that standards are going to be lowered it's just more scaremongering. In fact the government have stayed the opposite. It's more likely that the standards in the USA will be raised. No not because of UK but one of the reason rhat trump pulled out of the cross pacific agreement was because he had to raise there farming standards. Biden wants back in it. Having pulled out and now trying to get in they will find it difficult with standards in place for the countries within it.

Fair enough Signals.

Can you please send me your recipe for making Coq au Vin from lactic-acid washed Danish pork?? Yum!!

Fair enough Signals.

Can you please send me your recipe for making Coq au Vin from lactic-acid washed Danish pork?? Yum!!

Easy way to overcome ones fears is not to buy any food where the barcode starts with a 1 that's the united states. Personally I dont like buying anything starting 30 up to 37 that's France.

Totally agree Signals, I don't have a problem with chlorine washed chicken per se, (apart from our govt lying to us that it won't ever happen in the UK ).

I do however have a problem with why they need to carry out the practice in the US to compensate for the lower animal welfare standards than we have here.

My biggest 'beef' is the preventative antibiotics that are allowed over there, as opposed to the remedial medicine's we are encouraged to use over here, result in problems like MRSA and other such superbugs that scientists are struggling to keep one pace ahead of.

Totally agree Signals, I don't have a problem with chlorine washed chicken per se, (apart from our govt lying to us that it won't ever happen in the UK ).

I do however have a problem with why they need to carry out the practice in the US to compensate for the lower animal welfare standards than we have here.

My biggest 'beef' is the preventative antibiotics that are allowed over there, as opposed to the remedial medicine's we are encouraged to use over here, result in problems like MRSA and other such superbugs that scientists are struggling to keep one pace ahead of.

http://www.poultrynews.co.uk/business-p ... eport.html

I agree that we should be raising standards but do consider the remain side should look at the duplicity of their arguments. The link above says about importing poultry post brexit with the lowering of standards from countries like thailand which uses the drugs etc that your objecting to.

Okay rhats fine however we already import chicken from Thailand. Should you go to sainsburys and buy a cheap ready meal you will see on the packaging it's made in the ROI but the chicken comes from Thailand.

So my question why is it fine to have chicken from thailand where the standards and food safety procedures are similar to the united states whilst we are in the EU rules but not have similar purchases from the united states when we are not.

As you can see its already in the system.

Totally agree Signals, I don't have a problem with chlorine washed chicken per se, (apart from our govt lying to us that it won't ever happen in the UK ).

I do however have a problem with why they need to carry out the practice in the US to compensate for the lower animal welfare standards than we have here.

My biggest 'beef' is the preventative antibiotics that are allowed over there, as opposed to the remedial medicine's we are encouraged to use over here, result in problems like MRSA and other such superbugs that scientists are struggling to keep one pace ahead of.

http://www.poultrynews.co.uk/business-p ... eport.html

I agree that we should be raising standards but do consider the remain side should look at the duplicity of their arguments. The link above says about importing poultry post brexit with the lowering of standards from countries like thailand which uses the drugs etc that your objecting to.

Okay rhats fine however we already import chicken from Thailand. Should you go to sainsburys and buy a cheap ready meal you will see on the packaging it's made in the ROI but the chicken comes from Thailand.

So my question why is it fine to have chicken from thailand where the standards and food safety procedures are similar to the united states whilst we are in the EU rules but not have similar purchases from the united states when we are not.

As you can see its already in the system.

Is everyone who disagrees with something after using an evidence based approach a "Remainer" that seems to be gist of things.

A Remainer doesn't exist, we're leaving everyone wants the best deal, but that doesn't mean I expect to see the unicorn being trumpeted is anything but fake news

Totally agree Signals, I don't have a problem with chlorine washed chicken per se, (apart from our govt lying to us that it won't ever happen in the UK ).

I do however have a problem with why they need to carry out the practice in the US to compensate for the lower animal welfare standards than we have here.

My biggest 'beef' is the preventative antibiotics that are allowed over there, as opposed to the remedial medicine's we are encouraged to use over here, result in problems like MRSA and other such superbugs that scientists are struggling to keep one pace ahead of.

http://www.poultrynews.co.uk/business-p ... eport.html

I agree that we should be raising standards but do consider the remain side should look at the duplicity of their arguments. The link above says about importing poultry post brexit with the lowering of standards from countries like thailand which uses the drugs etc that your objecting to.

Okay rhats fine however we already import chicken from Thailand. Should you go to sainsburys and buy a cheap ready meal you will see on the packaging it's made in the ROI but the chicken comes from Thailand.

So my question why is it fine to have chicken from thailand where the standards and food safety procedures are similar to the united states whilst we are in the EU rules but not have similar purchases from the united states when we are not.

As you can see its already in the system.

Is everyone who disagrees with something after using an evidence based approach a "Remainer" that seems to be gist of things.

A Remainer doesn't exist, we're leaving everyone wants the best deal, but that doesn't mean I expect to see the unicorn being trumpeted is anything but fake news

The persons I responded to have all professed to being in the remain camp or as Mickey described themselves remoaners in one of his replies. All I done is responded to their statements where they are trying to prophesise what will happen in brexit. The reality is their is no evidence that the standards will be lowered so its just trying to justify their project fear.
With over 20 years experience within a technical department in the food trade I just pointed out that the things they say will happen is already within the EU.

I spoke to somebody who worked for a local meat processing factory a few years ago. According to him chicken starting "to go green" was bleached and packaged or covered in marinade!