Chlorinated chicken

sir – Sir Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), argues that consumers should have a choice over whether or not to buy chlorine-washed chicken in the event of a UK-US trade deal because animal welfare is a “values-based choice” (report, August 29).

This is disappointing. Defra, supported by the British veterinary profession and farming unions, proudly trumpets this country’s high animal welfare standards and has sought to reassure consumers that these would at least be maintained after Brexit.

We know that shoppers not only value high animal welfare standards but they also expect them. Chlorine washing is used to disinfect carcasses at the end of a production process in which chickens may have been kept in conditions associated with poor health and welfare. Additionally, we consider that there are increasing public health concerns about the practice. A recent study found that bacilli such as listeria and salmonella remain completely active after chlorine washing. The process merely makes it impossible to culture them in the lab, giving the false impression that the chlorine washing has been effective.

The British Veterinary Association has argued strongly to the Government that exports to Britain of chlorine-washed chicken should be excluded on animal-welfare grounds. We would appreciate Defra’s support on this. Simon Doherty

President, British Veterinary Association

London W1