What a load of bollocks. really, it's time you actually did some learning. Oh and to the rest I called him out on the sexism that some of you said wasn't there, I was right.
Eggs from the USA are illegal here as are ours in the US. We don't wash them while the US does, ours don't have to be refrigerated. the law in the UK doesn't allow certain additives that are allowed in the US, McDonalds only use British and Irish beef/chicken not imported from anywhere else, this has to be true otherwise they will be prosecuted. When food is imported here the country of origin has to be stated and it's also an offence to advertise 'British only meat' if it's not. They also use free range eggs. We don't actually import very much beef from the US, we are 75% self sufficient and will import the rest from Brazil and the rest of the EU who have the same standards. This is the huge worry if we are forced to trade with your government at the moment, we do not want chlorinated chicken, washed eggs or growth hormone meat.
Beef Statistics | National Beef Association
Good info, thanks. The last line about the 60k tonnes of import is what I was referencing to. It looks like over half of it comes from the U.S.
EU seals deal to boost U.S. beef imports: sources
We also have to identify origin on all meats. As far as growth hormones I think you are referring to, they have been long gone since around 2000. It is still used as a fear mongering tactic but especially packages/processed meat is, in my opinion, overly regulated.
I do not know this as fact but I suspect the tonnage noted is mostly live weight that is finished and process on your end to meet your standards. Makes the most sense. You are correct that a LOT of beef comes from Brazil.
I am not familiar with chlorinated water for cleaning a chicken being an issue. Is your drinking water not chlorinated? I viewed several industry sites that said only about 10% of our chicken industry uses chlorinated water for cleaning the actual meat but since it is required by the USDA, all processing equipment has to use chlorinated water, heat and additional sanitizers.
From the readings, it looks like the EU breakup is being used to spread a lot of hype and fear of imports.
When I was in high school I work at a live weight processing meat market. An inspector was there every day and I honestly do not know how we could have been more thorough on cleaning, inspecting, and tracking procedures. This was in the 80's. I am certain procedures have continued to changed and as a beef producer I know there are a lot more checks done on live animals compared to back then.
As a beef cattleman, I focus more on producing animals that require the least input cost to reach output goals. That would be getting to sale weight by the appropriate time and feeding rate without the added cost of supplements or hormones.
Do you know if your dairy industry allows hormones (rBGH)? This is the synthetic version of growth hormone.
It is hard to find a consistent number but is looks like 10-15% of U.S. beef will have naturally occurring hormones (
estradiol, progesterone and testosterone), bolus as young calf's. By slaughter weight the bolus has been exhausted for some time, months. It is not something done en masse because it is just too costly. After testing levels, a calf that is poor or underweight may get the bolus to regulate hormone levels to normal. Levels cannot exceed normal levels or it can have deadly effects for the animal.
Hormones are something that are quite hyped. They are something that every living animal have and need, and sometimes need to be regulated (an aging female for example).
The welfare of the animals, and the resulting quality of finished product is the bottom line.
