Food safety and hygiene standards ‘in danger’ from tearing up of EU laws, experts warn

‘Potential consequences are deeply alarming’, says Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

Food safety and hygiene standards are at risk from government plans to tear up remaining EU laws at breakneck speed, experts have warned.

The alarm has been raised over “incredibly concerning” legislation that will axe or replace up to 1,500 items of so-called “retained law” in just 15 months’ time, to draw a line under Brexit.

Fears have already emerged over workers’ rights and the environment – but the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) is also highlighting the risk to food and public health.

Among the protections in line to be swept away are obligations to alert shoppers to allergens in food, legal limits on chemical contaminants and safety rules for baby food, it says.

Restrictions on the use of decontaminants on meat – such as the chlorine washes on chicken – hang in the balance, as do businesses’ minimum hygiene standards, the CIEH argues.

And genetically-modified food and feed could be introduced without any food safety assessment taking place, nor any obligation to label such food for consumers.

“The potential consequences of this agenda are deeply alarming,” said Ross Matthewman, the organisation’s head of policy and campaigns.

“There seems to be real danger that this bill puts at risk the high standards our country has with respect to environmental health.

“It threatens our regulatory frameworks in crucial areas such as food and environmental protection, and will have negative consequences for public health.”

Mr Matthewman said the CIEH’s “illusions had been shattered” by the publication, last month, of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

“A full onslaught on scores of regulations sweeping right across vital areas from food to our environment did not seem on the cards,” he added.

In July, as she campaigned for the Tory leadership, Liz Truss sought to outflank her rival Rishi Sunak on Brexit by pledging “to scrap all EU regulation by the end of 2023”.

Environmental campaigners have warned officials will have little more than one day to examine each piece of legislation on water quality and pesticides, for example, to decide which should be kept in UK law.

There are also huge concerns that the process of stripping out EU protections will be carried out through secondary regulations, behind MPs’ backs.

Last year, the former Brexit minister David Frost pointed to data rights, genetically modified crops, medical trials and “outdated EU vehicle standards” as likely targets.

Tearing up rules could also come at a price, if divergence triggers disputes under the Brexit trade deal – potentially allowing Brussels to curb access to EU markets for British firms.

Ahead of a likely fierce battle in the House of Lords, the CIEH urged MPs and peers to “ensure that we do not throw away our safety”.