America's chemical-soaked, hormone-filled meats impede trade deal with Europe

Friday, January 22, 2016 by: Jennifer Lea Reynolds
Tags: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, meat hormones, chemicals

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(NaturalNews) Earlier this year, many people in the United States were angered over the fact that the USDA was on board with having US chickens sent to China for processing, then shipped back to the States for human consumption. Questionable food practices in China, as well as the illogical nature of such an elaborate import/export process, rendered Americans' stomachs -- and finances -- uneasy.⁽¹⁾

How interesting it is then, that the United States, which fears China's iffy food security, is now entertaining signing a bill which is providing Europe with those same fears. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), if signed and passed, is poised to create a global megamarket of 800 million consumers spanning from Hawaii to Greece and Alaska to Finland.⁽²⁾

While advocates say that TTIP, which would become the world's largest free trade deal, would create a globalization breakthrough that could boost transatlantic commerce and create millions of new jobs, the majority of people in Europe are expressing extreme dissatisfaction about the possibility. Just as Americans are hesitant to purchase certain foods from China, many Europeans are not happy about the idea of perhaps one day consuming American foods which are often dubbed as Frankenfoods.

Forcing other parts of the world to eat American Frankenfoods not well received

"Hormone-boosted beef. Chlorine-washed chicken. Genetically altered vegetables. This is what they want for us," said French organic farmer Jean Cabaret. "In France, food is about pleasure, about taste. But in the United States, they put anything in their mouths. No, this must be stopped."⁽²⁾

While French President Francois Hollande has voiced his backing of the deal, Matthias Fekl, the new secretary of state for foreign trade in France, is against the notion of allowing controversial US foods to become the norm there. "This is about lifestyle, about way of life," Fekl said. "Nothing will force us to expand entry into Europe of chlorinated chicken or hormone beef."⁽²⁾

As Natural News readers know all too well, Cabaret and Fekl have every reason to fear much of America's manner of food growing, raising, processing and labeling. GMOs, labeling loopholes and chemicals that make their way into our foods are disturbing. In fact, several foods that are considered safe for consumption in the United States are actually banned in other parts of the world.

Food chemicals and processes in America are banned in most other parts of world

For example, in Australia, the UK and many European countries, asthma-causing Azodicarbonamide which is commonly found in baked goods and breads, is banned. Recombinant hormone and recombinant bovine somatotropin is also banned in other parts of the world, as is arsenic, traces of which have been found in US chicken feed.⁽³⁾

"It's possibly one of the most dangerous agreements," said British TV chef Jamie Oliver. "We don't have hormones in our meat; that's banned. But not over there. We don't have hundreds of poisons and pesticides that have been proven to be carcinogenic. They do."⁽²⁾

The fear of American foods and opposition to the bill is being expressed all over Europe, much of the time not quietly. Protestors are a common sight; flash mobs have broken out in Belgium, and demonstrations in Copenhagen have involved a 24-foot Trojan horse to symbolize the trade deal's risks. Some have even donned chicken costumes, handing out fliers at town hall meetings or in grocery markets. In Britain, a poll discovered that a mere 13 percent of Britons favor TTIP.⁽²⁾

If the bill is to be set in motion, more agreements must be made by the end of President Obama's term. More rounds of talks are expected to take place over the next few months.

Sources for this article include:

(1) http://www.nationofchange.org

(2) http://www.washingtonpost.com

(3) http://abcnews.go.com

(4) http://science.naturalnews.com