US beef: 'How do we know what they are putting in?'

The government has insisted that American hormone-reared meat will not start to seep onto the UK market, following the trade deal agreed this week, which boosts the trade in beef in both directions.

Some farmers and consumers, including Ian McCubbine a beef farmer in Surrey, have expressed fears that the deal could open the door to hormone-treated beef.

"How do we know what they are putting in?" he said, speaking to the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

However, the government said maintaining UK food standards had been a strict red line during the negotiations, and that certification procedures and border checks would ensure hormone-reared beef would not enter the UK.

Darren Jones chief secretary to the Treasury said: "The rules on food standards have not changed and they will not change" as a result of the deal.

The agencies responsible for sanitary and phytosanitary checks would be able to test meat for traces of hormone with "consequences" for anyone breaking the law, he added.

The UK stopped allowing hormone-produced beef in 1989, when the practice was banned across the EU which declared it unsafe.

But many American farmers use growth hormones as a standard part of their beef production. Adding growth hormones makes cows put on muscle mass, and so makes their beef cheaper.

The US and other countries that use the method, including Australia, say there is no added health-risk from hormone-fed beef.

But a lot of consumers are wary of it, with some commenting online that they would look out for UK-produced beef in future.

As part of the trade deal the UK has agreed to allow up to 13,000 metric tonnes of beef imports from the US tariff-free. Currently the US exports around 1,000 tonnes to the UK with a 20% tariff, the UK's Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

In exchange, the UK will also be able to sell more beef to the US than it currently does, also up to 13,000 tonnes at a lower tariff than at present.

The deal also includes lower tariffs on UK-made cars destined for US market and US ethanol exports to the UK.

Liz Webster, founder of the group Save British Farmer, echoed Mr McCubbine's fears in a post on X.

"In exchange for tariff relief on luxury cars, we've opened our doors to US beef and ethanol.

"But as our border checks are barely functioning, how we'll enforce standards is anyone's guess," she wrote.

US producers must have monitoring and certification procedures in place to prove that they are compliant with UK food standards to be allowed to export, Defra said.

Hormones are usually used to fatten cattle in the later stages of production, a Defra spokesperson said, and therefore traces would be identifiable through checks.

The National Farmers Union said it was checking the details of the trade deal with Defra, asking them provide more information about how the checks on imported meat would continue to ensure that safety standards were maintained.