A US-UK trade deal being drawn up amid worries over food shortages in the aftermath of Brexit has been muddied by reports of unacceptable levels of E. coli and salmonella detected in many of the poultry and pork products which have made their way to supermarket shelves in the US.
Source: Compassion in World Farming
The discovery was confirmed in the preliminary findings of a study that appears to confirm the worst fears of numerous critics worried that a no-deal Brexit could hamper food regulation laws.
Concerns had been raised in the past about the ill-effects a no-deal Brexit could have on the British food industry, with many not trusting Boris Johnson's government to adequately manage the UK food market after dumping their plans to ban chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef earlier this year.
This comes as the Food Agriculture Bill 2019-21 returns to the House of Commons on Monday and includes an amendment from the House of Lords calling for food imports to be produced according to domestic standards.
There are concerns that a US-UK trade deal could also allow for an influx of cheaply-produced food onto the UK market.
The five-year study, being carried out by George Washington University, reports that as much as 14% of poultry and 13% of pork products in US shops contained traces of salmonella.
Further testing concluded that around 60% of pork products contained E. coli - the primary bacteria behind many strains of food poisoning - whereas 70% of beef, 80% of chicken and 90% of turkey products also reportedly contained the E. coli bacteria.
NIAID
E. coli is a bacteria found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals that is a cause of various strains of food poisoning.
The study's head, Professor Lance Price, shared his research with a Channel 4 Dispatches investigation into American meat products, which is due to air Monday night.
He said: “It’s an unacceptable rate given that it is controllable, but the industry has been very successful in fighting any kind of regulations there.”
Professor Price's study also reveals that at least 45% of retail meat in the US is resistant to at least one type of antibiotic.
The rate at which antibiotics are given to livestock in the US is five times that of the UK, sparking concern among scientists who think it could cause a rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
US meat producers reportedly use six antibiotics that are classed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as being "'critically important' to human medicine," the study adds.
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According to C4 Dispatches, US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue declined to be interviewed but has previously said that the US is doing a much better job in ensuring that antibiotics are not overused & that most poultry is now antibiotic-free & many other animals are only given them when they are sick.
The UK government had announced it will not be lowering food standards in the face of a deal with the US.
Last month also saw the release of a report into the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic had on the US food industry.
The report concluded, among other things, that the US saw a 45% reduction in pig processing, resulting in around 250,000 pigs per day not being slaughtered, leading to longer transport times and overcrowding in farms. This ultimately resulted in animals being culled in ways that would generally go against animal welfare standards.
The report also noted that carcass disposal caused serious biosecurity and environmental risks, highlighting the ramifications of such intensive, high-production farming efforts, potentially creating an environment ripe for contamination, with the potential to further accentuate the bacteria levels discovered.
Poultry plants were likewise also given permission to ramp up production lines with the amount of chicken meat being condemned - not passing safety standards for human consumption - dropped by 10% throughout the pandemic. This has increased the likelihood that dangerous meat products have entered the US market owing to a lapse in regulations to meet food demands during the crisis.
The US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recalled over 40,000 pounds of beef products back in June due to potential contamination with E. coli - labelled as a high health risk - hinting that food standards may be dropping owing to the pandemic. The Independent later reported that a further 130,000 pounds of ground beef containing E. coli were recalled following the death of one and the infection of 17 more people in Colorado.
If these standards continue, it could mean that both cheaply-made and contaminated food could enter the UK market if the US-UK trade deal is ratified.
A spokesperson for US National Chicken Council told the Guardian: “The US chicken industry works to eradicate all strains and products undergo microbiological testing to look for their presence. If you were to look at the US Department of Agriculture’s most recent posting of categories for large broiler establishments, you would see that more than 93% of the industry is meeting the FSIS performance standard for salmonella on whole broiler carcasses. Similarly, 95% of large broiler establishments are meeting the FSIS performance standard for salmonella on chicken parts.”
Healthline lists a number of ways E.coli can infect a carcass, including improper food handling, poor temperature management, failure to adequately sterilise hands, utensils and the product; a potential for infection owing to the nascent E. coli existing in the animal's intestines; or poor sanitation or water quality leading to existing E. coli present in human or animal waste leading to contamination.
They state that if food is cooked properly and the proper measures to prevent contamination are used, then the chance of infection is reduced greatly if not completely owing to any bacteria present being killed.
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