finger lickin’ good

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As a regular swimmer, with no natural buoyancy and a dreadful stroke, I consume more chlorine than your average citizen. And taking into account what my fellow dippers are happy to deposit in the pool, I’m very happy about that fact! So, in the aftermath of Tiny Hands’ recent state visit where ‘everything is on the trade-table’, does the idea of chowing-down on chicken that’s been blasted with chlorine dioxide sound right-up your proverbial menu? Our partners in the special-relationship have been served-up chlorine-chicken for decades so what’s wrong with it anyway?

As it turns out, it’s not the chlorine that’s the issue, it’s what it’s hiding.

Chlorine is part and parcel of the processing method that makes allowances for poorer animal welfare standards and a very different production model within US poultry farms that have sacrificed hygiene for increased production and speed-to-market. For example, in the UK the maximum amount of time live birds can be transported is for twelve hours but in the US, it’s twenty-eight. The chicken is ultimately washed with chlorine (and other chemicals) to both extend its shelf-life and kill off harmful microorganisms and pathogenic bacteria, such as salmonella and campylobacter, that may be present on carcasses.

Mind, Ken Isley of the US Department of Agriculture, is having none of the criticism and explains “the concerns and fear are unfounded. It’s not lower food safety, it’s different and more modern.” Ah, that clears that up then. Sadly, official figures beg to differ. In the UK, the Foods Standards Agency report that there are approximately one million cases of foodborne illness every year, which equates to a 1.5 in 100 (1.5%) chance of getting food poisoning. Corresponding figures in the US confirm there are approximately 37 million cases, resulting in an 11.5 in 100 (11.5%) chance of coming down with the nasties. In essence, you are almost eight times more likely of hitting God’s big-white-telephone in a major way!

In a scene all too reminiscent of the Right Honourable MP for Agriculture, John Selwyn Gummer forcing his daughter, Cordelia, to eat the shack-wagon burger for the watching-media in his 1990 denial of ‘mad cow disease’ (worth youtubing), our current International Trade Secretary, DOCTOR Liam Fox is keen to go one better and clarifies “there are no health reasons why you couldn’t eat chickens that have been washed in chlorinated water. I am a great believer in giving the public a choice over what they are eating.” If Dr Fox ever returns to private practice I wouldn’t want to be in that catchment area.

The US has made it abundantly clear that if we want a trade deal with them, we will have to lower our standards, our expectations, our nationwide regulation and legislation, and this applies not only to food & agriculture (hormone ‘enriched’ beef, overuse of farm antibiotics, pesticides currently banned, removal of E number additive labelling etc) but to all sectors and all markets. I fully expect this to herald the start of the ‘race to the bottom’ and Brexiters, be careful what you wish for.