Slaughtered chickens that are washed in chlorine could be coming to the UK (Picture: Getty)

Farmers have exposed the shocking truth behind the American farms that could begin supplying chlorine-washed chicken to the UK.

Birds are kept in horrendous conditions as there are no laws protecting their welfare, unlike in Britain and Europe.

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Chickens can buckle under their own weight, live without natural sunlight and many are covered in faeces, the Mail on Sunday reported.

Britain’s international trade secretary Liam Fox said last week that the UK may have to adopt US standards in a post-Brexit trade deal.


That would include chickens that are washed in chlorine – yes, the same chemical that cleans swimming pools – because it is standard practice in the US, with 97% of chickens being chlorine-washed.

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Conditions are often appalling due to lax laws (Picture: The Humane Society)

In addition, the prospect raises ethical questions as it emerged that the animals are cruelly kept in awful conditions.



Farmer Craig Watts, 51, who quit the poultry business over its controversial practices, told the Mail on Sunday what happens inside US chicken farms.

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He said: ‘The birds are too heavy to stand because they have been bred for breast meat and nothing else so they spend their lives squatting. It’s like two toothpicks sticking out of a grape.

‘They spend 95% of their time sitting on the litter, a mixture of pine shavings and faecal matter from that flock and prior flocks.

‘Their flesh would rot and, when you have them crammed in so tight, they will walk over other birds if they want to get to the food or scratch the others and cause a wound. It is awful.’

There is very little natural sunlight in the barns (Picture: The Humane Society)

Under American laws, there is no limit on how much ammonia can be used inside farming warehouses – which indicates how much faeces mounts up inside.

This makes the farms a hub of disease, though Dr Fox has insisted the chlorine-washed meat is safe for consumption.

In the US, there are also no laws governing lighting inside the sheds used by farmers and no minimum space requirements for breeding chickens.

It is not legally required to wash the meat in chlorine, but almost all chickens are cleaned in the chemical after slaughter.