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U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

latimes.com

81–90 of 219 posts

Re: U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

#81
post #60

I remember when I visited a supermarket in the states and noticed something very weird: Not only chicken breast was super super cheap but the color was whiteish and didn't look right to me. Since a young age I visited egg farms and I can tell you the conditions are far from ideal, they even turn on the lights at 3am to enhance egg production. We're talking about egg farms that are regulated by EU laws. About 12 years…

>I remember when I visited a supermarket in the states and noticed something very weird: Not only chicken breast was super super cheap but the color was whiteish and didn't look right to me.

Could it be woody breast?

https://old.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/c9lbu3/psa_can_we_tal...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bigger-chickens-bring-a-tough-n...

Re: U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

#83

Some stats. EU - ~500 Million people. "In the EU, over 91,000 salmonellosis cases are reported each year." [1] US. ~330 Million People. "CDC estimates Salmonella bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths in the United States every year. Food is the source for most of these illnesses." [2] 1- https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/salmonella 2- https://www.cdc.gov/salmon…

I am not an expert and haven’t looked at those links. I’ve learned to be skeptical of US vs EU stats ever since I learned about the difference in definitions and data methods that lead to difference in infant mortality statistics.

For one thing, those two quotes are talking about different stats: “cases reported” vs “estimates”. How many cases are reported in the US? What is the EU’s estimate of the actual total?

Re: U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

#84
(Read to the end, it is not what you think it is!)

I have stopped eating meat in 1990, due to the discusting way the animals are treated and I couldn't care less. At well over 40s I still look young, no gray hair, medical results are fabolus.

BUT!!! I would seriously ask all the vegans/vegetarians to STFU, they are annoying to the point where everyone attacks me when I tell him that I don't eat meat and try to argue. It is embarasing that, as a vegetarian (lacto/ovo whatever, who cares), I rather don't tell this to anyone, due to radical groups too stupid to understand, that their aggressive actions are beeing counterproductive. There was an old saying that fighting for peace is like f* for virginity. It just doesn't work. And I am so sorry that I think that there is no need to make every meat eater on barricades due to agrasive stand you unneededly take.

Just let people eat whatever they want. They will figure out on their own.

Re: U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

#85
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One objection is that it allows the initial chicken production to be dirtier as you can then just disinfect later even. In the EU, the entire processing needs to be clean.

BUT....what if it isn't clean? One worker can infect a whole host of chickens and there is no mitigation that will stop it before it is consumed except for the hope that it is cooked properly. Besides, the "chemical washing" is not chlorine anymore it is just vinegar (What many people put on chicken to eat anyway). So ideally you would have clean farms, clean processing and clean storage and then the consumer would p…

So why aren't the Americans showing us how clean their farms are, instead of going on about this vinegar strawman?

Re: U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

#86
post #36
post #2

I really hope the EU will not allow this kind of US meat into the EU market...

It's just protectionism. It's not like the chicken tastes of bleach. Have you ever eaten food in the US?

Let me return the question, are you are basically saying "if I can't taste it, it can't be bad"? ;)

Re: U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is the chemical wash isn't the inherent issue here. It's the fact that they need to be chemically washed in the first place. Due to factory farming, chickens live in piles of their own poop, and with that comes tons of other unhealthy side effects. To combat that, in the US we simply give them a chemical bath. The issue at hand is that the EU doesn't want low quality chicken entering the market becau…

Seems to me like the real motivation is defending their own agricultural industry. American chicken is cheaper and likely just as good. The health claims are weak, everyone can understand protectionism, but it is often masked behind other claimed goals. The data on salmonella is not super solid, but points to higher levels in the U.S. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47440562

Nope. See current top post, the US gets an order of magnitude more salmonella infections beacuse of bad food safety.

Re: U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

#88

So, I fail to see the issue with the chemical currently used. Chlorine had obvious negative health issues, but peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide both decay quickly when exposed to air: http://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/m... I understand the concerns about using such processes over having a clean processing facility but I don't trust the cheap labor (prisoners, migrant farmers, etc) the US…

There's a decent amount of chicken farming and processing in my area (southern Mississippi). I know a few people who work for Southern Hens. The job isn't great, but the benefits are ok and the pay is fairly good for the area (probably doesn't compare well to other parts of the country, though). Better compensated than the majority of unskilled or even semi skilled labor in the area that I've seen. Certainly not cheap migrant or prisoner labor.

Re: U.S. wants the EU to accept chemical-washed chicken as part of trade deal

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is the chemical wash isn't the inherent issue here. It's the fact that they need to be chemically washed in the first place. Due to factory farming, chickens live in piles of their own poop, and with that comes tons of other unhealthy side effects. To combat that, in the US we simply give them a chemical bath. The issue at hand is that the EU doesn't want low quality chicken entering the market becau…

Seems to me like the real motivation is defending their own agricultural industry. American chicken is cheaper and likely just as good. The health claims are weak, everyone can understand protectionism, but it is often masked behind other claimed goals. The data on salmonella is not super solid, but points to higher levels in the U.S. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47440562

Having lived in Europe (UK, France) and North America (Canada) I can assure you that American chicken is not just as good. It's not just chicken. All sorts of meats are worse in quality.
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