The Food Standards Agency (FSA) estimates that approximately one in 28 people suffer from some form of foodborne illness every year in the UK. Not great. But in America, around one in six people experience some form of food poisoning ever year. Definitely much worse.
The UK-US trade deal
The announcement of (according to the American president) a “comprehensive” deal between America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland made a lot of hearts sink on Thursday 8 May, 2025. We waited for Keir Starmer’s update on the detail. We waited. And waited. Dreading the possibility that American food would make its way into this country.
The UK government has announced that, among other things, there will be “reciprocal market access on beef”. That means that the USA and UK will each have a tariff free quota of 13,000 metric tonnes to beef. UK farmers can send UK beef to America and American farmers can send American beef to the UK. The UK government has also stated that there will be no weakening of UK food standards on imports. We will have to wait and see exactly what that means.
UK food safety
The UK food safety framework is a complex jigsaw of legislation which was retained from EU law into domestic UK law following our unfortunate exit from the European Union. It is designed to take a safety first approach that prioritises consumer protection. Thus far, thankfully, none has been repealed. Actually, a lot of that law was developed by the UK whilst we were still part of the EU, probably because of a couple of catastrophic food safety disasters back in the 1980s (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy or salmonella anyone?). As a result of those crises, this country tends to take a very precautionary approach to consumer protection.
Food law in America on the other hand tends to focus less on hazards to consumers and more on profit. Food in America is very much buyer beware, because it’s all about the money, money, money.
Chlorinated chicken and hormone filled beef
One of the main concerns being raised about a trade agreement with America is the potential for chlorine washed chicken and hormone filled beef being sold in the UK, neither of which are permitted. The FSA is responsible for the strict regulation of animal welfare and meat safety in the UK (before you start shouting “horse meat scandal”, that was criminal fraudulent labelling, nothing to do with food safety).
The FSA requires inspection before slaughter to make sure animals are free from disease and then further inspection after slaughter to check carcasses for any signs of disease or contamination, for example from faecal matter, and hygiene in meat plants is very tightly regulated. Because of those high standards there is no necessity to sluice chicken with chlorinated water during processing.
In America, the majority of chicken is washed in chlorinated water after slaughter. This is because the standards of hygiene and welfare in which the chickens are raised and then slaughtered are lower than those of the UK and EU. Oddly enough, most UK consumers (even those who voted for Brexit) don’t want to eat chlorinated chicken. Chlorine washed meat undermines consumer expectations of clean responsibly raised food.
On the beef front, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have authorised seven hormones, two of which are naturally produced by cattle, and five of which are entirely synthetic, to be used as growth promoters. The addition of hormones in cattle feed speeds up weight gain so that the amount of time it takes for cattle to achieve market weight is reduced. Which means the farmers have to spend less on raising cattle and gain more income from selling them for slaughter. Follow the money …
Hormone treated beef is not permitted in the UK. There is some evidence that at least one of the hormones authorised for use in American beef is a possible carcinogen – i.e. it has the potential to cause cancer. According to the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the hormones fed to American beef cattle are likely to mess up multiple aspects of human health including our hormones, the development of unborn children and prepubescent children, our immune system, our genome, and the function of our brain and nervous system. Hormones fed to animals end up in us and their impact is seriously negative. And just like with chlorinated chicken, UK consumers really don’t want to eat it.
What about antibiotics?
American farmers use intensive methods to rear animals, leading to overcrowding, poor animal welfare and higher risk of disease. As a result of those low standard farming practices, animals reared in American farming receive many times more antibiotics than animals reared in the UK. Yet despite high antibiotic use, back in 2024 there was at least one significant outbreak of salmonella caused by eggs in America, only 93 cases were reported across 12 states, however given the issues with healthcare costs in America it is likely that the numbers were far higher.
It is extremely concerning that American farming practices are sadly starting to invade the UK. Under normal UK farming practices, we have one of the lowest uses of antibiotics in farm animals in Europe. But the adoption of intensive farming practices puts animals under increased stress and higher risk of infection. And that increased risk means antibiotic use is also likely to rise. In turn, high use of antibiotics in farm animals then leads to an increase in antibiotic resistance, a huge issue for the health of the nation.
Country of origin labelling
UK food labelling law (the Food Information for Consumers Regulation) requires that meat of any kind, poultry, fish or shellfish, sold to mass caterers or the final consumer, must state on the label the country or place where that product of animal origin came from. It’s called country of origin labelling. If a product is manufactured in the UK but is made with meat, poultry, fish or shellfish which originated in another country, then the country of origin of that meat, poultry, fish or shellfish must be declared on the label, as well as the country of manufacture.
On the egg front, the UK has the most comprehensive egg safety standards in the world, the British Lion Scheme which is recognised as the gold standard. The scheme was developed following the salmonella in eggs scandal back in the 1980s, and launched in 1998. It covers all aspects of egg production for sale for human consumption and requires a stamp to be placed on every single egg that shows codes for the farming method used, the country of origin, a specific code to identify the farm where the egg was produced, a best before date and a lion, to show that the hens which produced the eggs have been vaccinated against salmonella.
Although it is not mandatory for dairy products to state country of origin, it is mandatory if the absence of country of origin would mislead consumers. In the UK most products like cheese, butter, milk and yoghurt state where the milk they are made from originated.
All of this means UK shoppers can tell where products of animal origin come from. It is highly likely that as part of any trade agreement between the UK and USA, America will try to bully the UK into either watering down or entirely removing a whole range of food standards, including the requirement for country of origin labelling. We still don’t know the exact details of the trade deal, but if meat carries “United States of America” as the country of origin, it is unlikely to sell well here in the UK.
Genetically modified food
There are only four genetically modified crops (GMOs) which are authorised for human consumption in the UK; maize (corn), soybeans, cotton, and oilseed rape. That’s it. And food for human consumption that contains any GM products must clearly state on the label that the product contains, or consists of, GMOs. In America, there are ten GMO crops authorised for use: maize, soybeans, oilseed rape, cotton, sugar beet, potatoes, squash, apples, papayas and pink pineapples. The requirement to carry a label stating that a product is, or contains, “bioengineered” ingredients only came into force in 2022.
It is likely that America would apply significant amounts of pressure on the UK to accept the GMO produce grown on American farms. It is also likely that they would resist any requirement by the UK to evaluate the safety of that produce, or even to label them as GMOs.
Additives
There are multiple additives used in American food that are banned or subject to restrictions in the UK.
There’s the delightful potassium bromate which is used in American bread (along with a ton of sugar). It is used to supposedly improve the quality, structure and volume of dough. Banned in the EU and UK because it carries some significant health risks including potentially increasing the risk of cancer development.
A chemical called azodicarbonamide is also used in American bread, to make the flour whiter, and to increase dough volume. The World Health Organization notes that azodicarbonamide can cause breathing and skin problems. It is banned in the EU and UK because it breaks down into chemicals which has been shown to be both carcinogenic and genotoxic.
There are certain food colourings which, in the EU and UK, are required to carry a warning statement on their labels: “[name or E number of the colour] may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children”. Those food colourings include tartrazine (E102), sunset yellow (E110), azorubine (E122), quinoline yellow (E104), ponceau 4R (E124), and allura red (E129). In America, only tartrazine requires any kind of warning statement, that it may cause allergic reactions in some people.
Labelling could tip the balance
Thanks to EU legislation, the UK has stringent mandatory requirements around food labelling to ensure that consumers are able to make informed choices. America really doesn’t like that. They would prefer that consumers were not aware that they were purchasing food from America with far lower standards for animal welfare and consumer safety. In fact, American officials appear to actively object to warning labels and consider them harmful to profit, because who cares about public health …
Fingers crossed …
So would UK food safety be at risk if a trade agreement between the UK and the United States of America is finalised? Back when the Tories were in power it was looking like they would bend over and let America do – well, do what America does.
Recently, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, also stated that there is no intention of relaxing food standards in order to gain a trade deal. We seriously have to hope that our current government has enough spine to keep to that promise.
