Waitrose rules out buying American beef and chicken as supermarket vows to 'stand with British farmers' following US trade deal

Daily Mail​

16-05-2025

Waitrose has ruled out buying American beef and chicken amid fears the country could be flooded with foreign meat following Starmer's US trade deal.
The supermarket giant made the commitment to 'stand with British farmers' after Sir Keir agreed to cut tariffs on US beef imports.
Pete Navarro, Donald Trump's trade counsellor, last week branded European food standards a 'phoney tool used to suppress what is very fine American agricultural product'.
The comments come despite fears there will be a watering down of food safety standards to allow products such as hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken into British stores - though the UK Government insists this will not be the case.
British and US officials agreed to a deal that gives American farmers a quota to import 13,000 tonnes of beef that meets UK welfare standards.
But supermarket bosses have expressed hesitation, pledging to maintain commitments to source products like beef from British cattle.
Jake Pickering, head of agriculture at Waitrose, said today: 'We want to reassure Waitrose customers that we will never compromise on our number-one animal welfare standards or our long-standing commitment to British farming.
'All of our own-brand fresh beef, lamb, chicken, pork, eggs and fresh milk are sourced from British farmers to high welfare standards – and we have raised the bar for customers with the Better Chicken Commitment and introduction of our new welfare labelling.
Sir Keir addressing staff at a Jaguar Land Rover car manufacturing plant in the West Midlands following the confirmation of his trade deal with US President Donald Trump
The UK Government has been clear that controversial hormone-treated beef, linked to issues like early puberty in children and cancers, won't be included in the deal
Waitrose has ruled out buying American beef and chicken amid fears the country could be flooded with the foreign meat following Starmer's US trade deal
'We're standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our farmers and backing better standards.'
Tesco has also vowed not to source beef from the US, maintaining its policy of sourcing 100 per cent of the product from the UK and Ireland.
Chief executive Ken Murphy said: 'We're not planning to change it.'
Aldi and Co-op also gave their thoughts - saying respectively they would continue to source their 'core' range of meat from British farms, and remain committed to sourcing 100 per cent British fresh and frozen meat.
As it stands, thousands of tonnes of American beef is on its way to the UK, with the agreement set to see enough meat shipped to serve one medium steak to every adult in the country - 13,000 tonnes in total.
The UK Government has insisted controversial hormone-treated beef—common in US supermarkets—won't be part of the deal.
These cattle are injected with growth hormones to speed up muscle growth and reduce the time to slaughter, making production faster and cheaper.
But the practice has been linked to concerns such as early puberty in children and increased cancer risk in consumers.
Brooke Rollins said she would like to see the UK and US more aligned on food standards regulations, during a visit to London following the new trade agreement between the two countries (file image)
US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins said the new trade deal 'is going to exponentially increase our beef exports' to the UK
However, Sir Keir insisted there will be no weakening of UK food standards on imports, meaning US-style chlorinated chickens will remain illegal in the UK
Hormone-grown beef has been banned in the UK since 1989 after the EU declared it unsafe.
Similarly, chicken 'cleaned' with chlorine, another of the Government's 'red line' products, will remain prohibited.
However, experts have warned that border checks designed to catch beef-sellers trying to sneak such meat into the country may not be strong enough.
About 80 per cent of all beef produced in the US comes from animals fed growth boosting hormones, according to the United States Cattlemen's Association.
These hormones result in more meat per animal and an overall more profitable enterprise for the producer.
But Brooke Rollins, Donald Trump's agricultural secretary, has insisted American meat is safe and good enough to be sold in Britain today.
She added she would like to see the UK and US more aligned on food standards regulations, during a visit to London following the new trade agreement between the two countries.
Ms Rollins said she was 'proud' of US producers and suggested the US market is starting to move away from hormone-treated beef.
The new US-UK trade deal helps overturn or reduce many of the tariffs Mr Trump unleashed on so-called 'Liberation Day' on April 2, 2025
UK ministers said there will be no downgrade in British food standards, which have been a significant barrier to entry for US-reared meat, and have insisted imports of hormone-treated beef and chlorinated chicken would remain illegal (file image)
'We have decades of research that show that the beef produced in America whether it is hormone or hormone-free is entirely safe and we believe it is one of the crown jewels of our American agricultural industry,' she said.
She added that only 5 per cent of US chicken is treated with chlorine.
'I think that is a narrative in your country that perhaps we have not done a good enough job pushing back on, so I think that's an important myth to dispel,' she continued.
Agriculture is a key part of the deal, announced by Mr Starmer and Mr Trump last week, which sees tariffs reduced on US products including beef and ethanol in return for moves that help British cars and steel.
As the first country to sign a deal of this sort with the US, Sir Keir called it a 'fantastic, historic' day, as he joined the Oval Office news conference via phone.
However, the Tories have accused him of 'shafting Britain' and allowing the UK to be steamrolled by Trump's team.
The results of the deal are likely to be far-reaching, saving jobs in the beleaguered car and steel industries but offering US farmers far greater access to UK markets on meat and ethanol.
Despite the health concerns, the new reciprocal market access on beef is being presented as a win-win for both countries, with UK farmers being given a quota for 13,000 metric tonnes.
US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins said at the Oval Office press conference that this deal 'is going to exponentially increase our beef exports'.