The Food Ethics Council has joined Compassion in World Farming and City University’s Professor of Food Policy, Tim Lang – plus a number of other civil society organisations and leading academics – in a joint letter to nine major food retailers.
We warn against low standard food imports and urge supermarkets to publicly state that they will avoid low standard meat, dairy and egg products that could be part of future trade deals with countries such as the US. This would risk undercutting UK food standards, including farm animal welfare, food safety, environmental protection and workers’ rights.
Our Executive Director, Dan Crossley, commented:
“We are now at a fork in the road moment for the future of UK food systems. The trade deals currently being negotiated do risk undermining food standards, making lots of UK food and farming businesses uncompetitive and exporting more of our impacts overseas. We must not weaken standards – we must protect and further strengthen what we already have.”
Read the full letter below.