Don't let Americans put hormones and pesticides in our dinner, warns Jamie Oliver as he launches latest food offensive

  • TV chef opposes 'dangerous' trade deal between EU and U.S.
  • Says Translantic Trade and Investment Partnership could lower standards
  • Agreement could let in food additives the U.S. allow but which the EU bans
  • Such substance include pig growth hormones and chicken feed with arsenic 

By KIERAN CORCORAN FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

Crusade: Oliver, pictured with a chicken, will campaign against a trade deal

Crusade: Oliver, pictured with a chicken, will campaign against a trade deal

Jamie Oliver is planning a campaign to stop British food standards being lowered to allow American food imports pumped full of pesticides and hormones into the UK.

The TV chef hopes to intervene to stop a trade agreement between the European United and U.S. aimed at removing trade barriers between member states.

Mr Oliver, 39,  claims the 'dangerous' Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal could undo 'decades of work' by getting round bans imposed by the EU on putting growth hormones and pesticides in meat.

The same restrictions do not exist in America - and at present if U.S. companies want to export food to the EU they must ensure it meets the higher standards.

Speaking to The Times, Mr Oliver said: '[The deal] has the capacity to be very negative to British public health and British companies and British farmers. 

'We don't have hormones in our meat, that's banned. But not over there. We don't have hundreds of poisons and pesticides that have been proven to be carcinogenic. They do. Their laws, their set-up, their safety regulations are nowhere near ours.'

He said he has tried to lobby Hillary Clinton, the former U.S. Secretary of State, on the issue, but wasn't able to show her a video message he recorded on the subject.

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Attempts: Mr Oliver, 39, tried to put his points to Hillary Clinton when she visited the UK, but was unsuccessful

Attempts: Mr Oliver, 39, tried to put his points to Hillary Clinton when she visited the UK, but was unsuccessful

Fears: It has been claimed the deal could let in banned growth hormones which the U.S. allows (file photo)

Fears: It has been claimed the deal could let in banned growth hormones which the U.S. allows (file photo)

Substances that the EU have banned but which are permitted in the U.S. include pig growth hormone ractopamine and milk hormone BST.

The agreement could also open the EU to chickens containing arsenic, poultry that has been chemically washed, and pesticides used on fruit and vegetables.

A report from the Center for Food Safety, a U.S. lobby group, raised fears that the negotiations will 'dismantle many food safety regulations that corporations view as impediments to trade and profitmaking' and criticised the 'shroud of secrecy' under which negotiations are being conducted.

Mr Oliver has previously launched food campaigns in the UK, notably on the standard of school dinners.

 

JAMIE'S OWN PROFITS SLUMP AS BRITONS GIVE UP HIS COOK BOOKES

Profits from Jamie Oliver's cookbooks have started drying up, according to new business records.

Jamie Oliver Holdings Limited, the company which incudes his publishing and TV interests, recorded a £3.6million drop in profits this year - a fall of 37 per cent.

New accounts, seen by the Financial Times, say that 2012 profits were £9.8million, while for 2013 they were only £6.2million.

The company said the slump was because 'heavy investment' had damaged returns in the short term. Oliver cookbooks topped bestellers' lists in 2010, 2011 and 2012 - but performed worse last Christmas. 

Jamie Oliver

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