The hard-left leader of the British Labour Party claimed British consumers would have to contend with rat hairs and maggots in their food if Boris Johnson went ahead with a post-Brexit transatlantic trade deal.
Jeremy Corbyn highlighted the scare story during a speech in the southeast of England as British politicians ramp up campaigning for the Dec. 12 general election.
He made the claim as he accused the prime minister of trying to use Brexit, and the end of European Union-agreed regulations, to drive through a much tougher brand of American-style capitalism â or âThatcherism on steroids.â
“Given the chance, they’ll slash food standards to U.S. levels where ‘acceptable levels’ of rat hairs in paprika and maggots in orange juice are allowed, and they’ll put chlorinated chicken on our supermarket shelves,” he said.
The line is a reference to the different ways in which Europe and the United States regulates food standards. So while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sets a maximum level for ânatural or unavoidable defectsâ in food that pose âno health hazard,â the EU sets no such limit at which action must be taken.
It means American producers can include up to 30 insect fragments in a 3.5 oz jar of peanut butter or up to 11 rodent hairs per ounce of paprika before facing prosecution.
Although on paper, the EU allows no such contaminants, in practice enforcement, is left to local authorities with no routine checks.
Corbyn, 70, who has taken the Labour Party further to the Left, used the example to accuse his Conservative opponents of wanting to use Brexit to usher in a deregulated capitalist paradise.
âAnd given the chance, theyâll water down the rules on air pollution and our environment that keep us safe,â he said at
âThey want a race to the bottom in standards and protections. What Boris Johnsonâs Conservatives want is to hijack Brexit to unleash Thatcherism on steroids.â
The Trump administration is keen to include access to the British food market in any deal, but EU rules have long been viewed as a barrier to trade.
Conservatives ridiculed Corbynâs line of attack, pointing out that the two approaches to food safety did not reflect differing standards and that British consumers might be eating contaminants without knowing it.
The prospect of a trade deal has provided ammunition for opposition politicians to attack Johnson and his close relationship with President Trump.
