No US ‘chlorine chicken’ in Europe, EU’s health nominee says

The EU’s nominee for health chief this week pledged to oppose the import of some US foodstuffs such as chemically-treated meat that Washington hopes to be able to sell to Europe under a planned multi-billion-dollar trade deal.

In comments at his confirmation hearing in the European Parliament that will delight EU heavyweights France and Germany, Vytenis Andriukaitis also said genetically-modified crops posed a “philosophical problem” that threatened Europe’s biodiversity.

The US, now in negotiations with the EU on a free trade pact that would create a joint market of 800 million people, wants the 28-nation bloc to take a more science-based approach to GM crops and hormone-treated meat.