Labour peer warns of salmonella risk from US chicken

Labour peer Lord Rooker has issued a warning to the UK government about the potential risks to public health if a trade deal with the US allows imports of chicken washed with chlorine or antimicrobial washes.

Lord Rooker raised concerns over evidence that one in 25 packets of chicken on US supermarket shelves carries a risk of salmonella infection.

In the US, the use of chlorine or antimicrobial washes to kill bacteria such as salmonella is a common but controversial practice.

Critics argue that it masks poor hygiene practices in poultry processing rather than addressing the root causes of contamination.

See also: Farage accused of ‘utter ignorance’ on chlorinated chicken

In the UK, food safety standards prohibit the use of such washes, focusing instead on prevention and hygienic practices throughout production.

Lord Rooker warned that importing chlorine-washed chicken would undermine these standards and introduce potential risks for British consumers.

Speaking at an NFU press briefing in London on Tuesday (1 April), Lord Rooker referred to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reports that salmonella causes 1.35 million illnesses, 26,500 hospitalisations, and 420 deaths each year in the US.

“One in 25 packs of chicken in the supermarkets are contaminated with salmonella in America today,” he said, adding that there were just three salmonella-related deaths in England in 2022.

“This idea that we can import [chicken] from America safely is simply not true.”

Lord Rooker also noted that the US is “desperate” to sell its agricultural food products to the UK, but he questioned whether the UK government fully understands the risks involved.

“I don’t think we should go anywhere near, in terms of trade deals with America, imports of so-called fresh foods,” he said.

Lord Rooker said labelling alone would not be the answer as this still involved “choosing between poisoned meat and badly farmed meat allegedly full of disease and washed off”.

NFU chief’s response

NFU president Tom Bradshaw echoed Lord Rooker’s concerns, calling any decision to allow imports of chlorinated chicken “unacceptable”.

He said the UK government must uphold the high production standards of British farmers in any trade deal.

“If we don’t want to produce it here in those methods, then we should not import food produced in that way,” he insisted.

Reports have suggested a potential US economic deal with agriculture concessions, but business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday that the UK has “red lines” on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls and would not allow chlorinated chicken in a trade deal.

Mr Bradshaw stressed that the government must protect UK food production.

“The government must not sacrifice agriculture in trade deals, risking the viability of domestic food production and our food security,” he told reporters.