New report warns on risks of sacrificing food standards post-Brexit

As the UK gears up to part from the EU, a new report published by the Food Research Collaboration warned that there are signs the government could compromise on food standards in order to win trade agreements with non-EU states such as the US.

The ‘Hormone-treated beef: Should Britain accept it after Brexit?’ report was co-authored by University of Sussex professor Erik Millstone and City, University of London food policy professor Tim Lang.

Millstone and Lang warned that if the country’s food standards are weakened for lower tariffs and other perks, there is a possibility that beef with growth-boosting hormones could enter the UK food supply.

Additionally, the report indicated that if the standards were lowered, the meat will not be labelled and the entry of hormone-produced beef could also impact on the UK beef exports to EU nations, as it is considered unlawful in the EU.

Hormone usage for cattle rearing is permitted in the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia, but beef from hormone-treated cattle has been banned in the EU since the mid-1980s.

The authors warned that legalising hormone-reared beef would introduce an unnecessary and unacceptable risk to public health in the UK.

Erik Millstone said: “The idea that, once the UK leaves the EU, it will become a rule-maker, not a rule-taker, is illusory. Exporting to other countries requires accepting their standards.

“The choice is: Which rules to take, the EU’s, the US’s or the World Trade Organisation’s? If UK products don’t match their standards, they won’t buy them.”

The report recommends that the UK government should ensure that either food standards remain fully aligned with EU standards, or they adopt higher standards post-Brexit.

Furthermore, the UK’s food and farming industries should publicly commit themselves only to produce and sell beef from cattle not treated with synthetic hormones.