Brexit: UK could lower pesticide standards to US levels in exchange for trade deal, campaigners warn

America, Australia and India allow far higher levels of some potentially harmful chemicals to be used in food production, and campaigners are sounding the alarm, Ben Chapman reports

A YouGov survey of 1,654 people found that 71 per cent are concerned that a US trade deal will mean larger amounts of pesticides in their food (Getty)

UK consumers are likely to be exposed to higher levels of toxic chemicals in their food if the government caves in to the demands of US negotiators in trade deal talks, campaigners have warned.

While much of the public debate around food standards has focused on chlorinated chicken, a new report highlights an array of US farming rules on pesticides and other chemicals that are far more lax than the UK’s.

Pesticide Action Network, Sustain, and Dr Emily Lydgate from the University of Sussex also looked at standards in other countries which UK ministers are keen to sign deals with such as India and Australia.