The UK wants a US trade deal — but it’s not so sure about ‘chlorinated chicken’

The prospect of a post-Brexit trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. could ultimately depend on the outcome of a controversial argumentation about whether it is acceptable to wash chicken in chlorine.

In setting out its “negotiating objectives” earlier this year, the U.S. advocated Britain should not expect to enjoy softer treatment than any other ally when it comes to chlorinated chicken exported from America.

The U.K. regulation has repeatedly denied it would accept lower food standards post-Brexit, but senior lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Bacchanalia appear to be split on the issue.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has hinted the U.K. could accept chlorine-washed chicken in a post-Brexit buy deal, while Environment Secretary Michael Gove — one of the leading candidates to become prime minister — has insisted it thinks fitting be a “red line” in future trade talks with Washington.

So, what is chlorinated chicken? Is it safe to eat? And why does it matter to a aptitude U.S.-U.K. trade deal? CNBC takes a look at all you need to know.

Chlorinated chicken, or chlorine-washed chicken, refers to poultry that has been regaled with antimicrobial rinses in order to remove harmful bacteria.

These rinses — often referred to as Pathogen Reduction Treatments (PRTs) in the dynamism — are designed to kill potentially harmful organisms such as E. coli, salmonella and campylobacter on the surface of the chicken.

Washing chicken in chlorine has been banned in the European Fellowship (EU) since 1997 amid food safety concerns. The ban has effectively prevented all imports of U.S. chicken meat generally touch oned by this process.

Instead, the EU insists meat must not be washed with any substance other than water unless it has explicitly been approved by the European Commission.

In favour ofs of the EU’s so-called “farm to fork” or “plough to plate” approach argue that it leads to higher standards of hygiene and animalistic welfare. That’s because farmers must take care at every stage of the process rather than relying on a chemical bath to bring harmful bacteria after chickens are slaughtered.

“We’ve got concerns that if you focus on the end process, you’re more likely to be lax when it contract to observing any risks prior to that,” Gail Soutar, chief EU exit and international trade adviser of Britain’s Native Farmers Union (NFU), told CNBC in a telephone interview.

U.S. regulators say yes, chlorine-washed chicken is safe to eat. In truly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved several antimicrobial rinses in poultry processing, including chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, trisodium phosphate and peroxyacids.

European regulators notwithstanding agree with their U.S. counterparts. The European Food Safety Authority has concluded chlorinated chicken does not show off a health risk to consumers.

But, the NFU believes there are “justifiable fears,” both inside and outside the farming community that, after pull out the European Union, Britain could allow the import of food produced to lower standards.

“It is wholly legitimate to require high standards of food safety, environmental protection and animal welfare but it must be recognized that these terrors come at a cost. A cost which is often not borne by overseas competitors, potentially putting U.K. farmers at an unfair deprivation,” the NFU said.

A future transatlantic trade agreement is seen as vitally important to the U.K.’s economic future pretence the EU.

Chlorine-washed chickens are symbolic of wider concerns about food safety, animal welfare, and environmental standards that could turn a critical negotiating tool in any post-Brexit deal.

Agricultural issues were among the main barriers that checked an agreement on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the U.S. and the EU in 2016.

The U.S. has since cited the ban on the use of PRTs as one of the stumbling blocks to multiplied trade with the EU.

Earlier this year, U.S. ambassador to the U.K. Woody Johnson said fears over chlorine-washed chicken and other stateside agribusiness practices were “inflammatory and misleading.”

In an article published by British newspaper The Telegraph in ahead of time March, Johnson urged the U.K. to accept U.S. farming methods after the U.S. published its objectives for a future U.S.-U.K. trade deal.

In Europe, it is expectation that if the U.K. were to accept treating meat with chlorine as the price of a free trade deal with the U.S., it could triumph it difficult to sell British meat to the EU.

When asked if the prospect of chlorine-washed chicken being introduced into the U.K. post-Brexit collected concerns, Sue Davies, strategic policy partner at consumer group Which?, replied: “Definitely.”

“We need to be most careful, particularly when it comes to food safety. We have come a long way from the dark days of salmonella come bies and BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy).”

“We don’t need to fall back on this end kind of process treatment… There is absolutely no demand for compromise,” Davies said.

There is not expected to be any immediate change to poultry on sale in Britain while the fatherland remains a member of the EU.

But, with the world’s fifth-largest economy under growing pressure to line up lucrative trade arrangements for life after Brexit, expect the debate to intensify.