US trade deal poses greatest threat to food safety since mad cow disease, Britons warned

Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A US trade deal poses the greatest risk to food safety since mad cow disease 20 years ago, shoppers are being warned, after Boris Johnson’s U-turn on banning low-quality meat. In a letter to the trade secretary, Liz Truss, the organisation says the UK has – since the BSE crisis of the 1990s – “led a food safety revolution” to make it a world leader in protecting the public. recognises the benefits of trade and the benefits that could come from a UK-US trade deal – but this cannot be at the expense of our food standards and consumer confidence in what we eat.” No less than 72 per cent of the British public does not want chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed beef to be allowed on sale in the UK, its survey had found. “UK consumers have a legitimate fear that two decades of progress on food safety and animal welfare could be traded away in just two weeks of negotiations with the US,” warned Sue Davies, its head of consumer protection.