The prepared salads you buy in Sainsbury's are usually chlorinated, as is the tap water you drink, or the water you swim in in your local pool.Chlorine is perfectly safe, indeed it adds safety to food, since it prevents bacterial growth. Moreover, it doesn't taint the taste of your chicken - at least after you cook it - otherwise people wouldn't buy it, including Americans. And Thais. And Brazilians. And half the world.The problem about chlorinated chicken is not a health one, it concerns economics and animal welfare.For in the "race to the bottom" to produce the cheapest possible chicken in competition with Mexico et al, US farmers raise battery chickens in huge indoor sheds in terribly confined, indeed cruel, conditions.One consequence of this is that bacteria spread far more rapidly than in chickens kept in decent conditions. Which is why they chlorinate the chickens - a cheap and effective way to ensure they don't poison consumers.Meaning that UK farmers, who generally have much higher welfare standards, would not be able to compete on price if these American imports were permitted, meaning they either go out of business, or replicate US methods.Unless, of course, we tell the USA we're not going to accept their chlorinated chicken, period. Which would then open up a whole new raft of issues over trade.And that's not a battle we're likely to win easily.If at all.
Richard Cathcart ● 2331d