Fox happy to put chlorinated US chicken on trade menu

LIAM FOX insisted he had “no objection” to British people eating chlorinated chicken from the US as he reopened a Cabinet rift with Michael Gove.

The International Trade Secretary said there were “no health reasons” why people could not eat the meat as he signalled he would be open to the item being included in a post-brexit free trade deal with the US. But Mr Gove, the Environment Secretary, reiterated his vow to block its import on the grounds that its production methods breached UK animal welfare standards.

A Cabinet split between the pair emerged on the issue back in July and appears not to have been resolved.

Asked if there was anything wrong with eating the chicken, Mr Fox told the select committee on international trade yesterday: “There are no health reasons why you couldn’t eat chicken that had been washed in chlorinated water.” He added: “I have no objection to the British public being sold anything that is safe as long as they know what they are eating. I am a great believer in giving the British public the choice over what they eat and as long as scientists tell us it is safe.”

But Mr Gove told the Lords EU environment sub-committee that while there was “no question” that the chicken is “fit for human consumption”, the US would have to change its welfare rules to export chlorinated chicken to Britain. He said: “We will maintain high animal welfare standards in any trade deal and it is clear that it is on that ground that we would not allow America, unless it were to change its animal welfare rules, to export chlorinated chicken to this country.”