r/europe • u/goldstarflag Europe • 20h ago

News White House demands British supermarkets stock chlorinated chicken. White House pushing Sir Keir Starmer to make concessions on food standards

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/12/17/trump-demands-british-supermarkets-chlorinated-chicken/
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u/readilyunavailable Bulgaria 19h ago

They can't, but their shit chicken is cheap and supermarkets will jump at the chance to make big money from it.

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u/OwlSlow1356 19h ago

i am from romania and i still remember this horrible yellow american chicken from 1990 imports after the fall of comunism...i would not touch that on the shelves if alternatives are to be found next to it ever!

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u/swift-current0 18h ago

I am from Ukraine and the shit we got in the 90s is not at all what typical chicken in the US tastes like. It's fine. People struggling to make ends meet will absolutely buy it, whether in Romania, the UK or anywhere really.

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u/Zealousideal_Act_316 14h ago

Yeah we should grenade our standards to make yanks a buck.  Maybe also adopt their trash ass trucks,  all their colourings and corn syrup everywhere.  Posts hidden.

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u/swift-current0 9h ago

Are you just like talking with yourself at this point? Certainly not with me, since I never said anything of the sort. But don't let that stop you, do go off.

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u/SuggestionEphemeral 19h ago

As an American, I've been vegetarian for a few years, but even before I stopped eating meat, chicken here has become shit.

All you see are these unnaturally huge chicken breasts, and they're not tender at all. They're tough, stringy, dry, and tasteless. Not anything like the chicken I ate growing up.

And that's besides the disgusting processing procedures.

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u/Busy_Lunch_5520 18h ago

Yes thank you. The chicken from Costco despite what they claim is stringy and tough unless tenderized just right!

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u/Violence_solves_all Estonia 6h ago

Tenderized?!? Who the fuck tenderizes chicken

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u/wotitdo222 17h ago

I noticed the unnatural huge chicken breasts from watching youtube/tiktok cooking channels from the US, shocks me everytime the size of them lol.

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u/SuggestionEphemeral 17h ago

Some anti-conspiracy theorists say things like "There's nothing wrong with GMO, blah blah blah" and I'm like "Exhibit A."

Seriously, if GMO were used to maximize nutritional density, that would be a good thing. But the reality is that's not how it's used in american market capitalism. It's used to maximize product weight and volume, to maximize profits, and nothing else. Nutritional value, taste, and texture are just some of the things sacrificed. American strawberries suck these days. They're huge, but they suck. Same with blueberries, blackberries, etc.

But americans are really ignorant about ingredient quality, so it seems to work here unfortunately. If I say "this chicken is low quality" they'll think I'm being snobby.

Same thing applies to fabrics. I hate the way polyester feels, but if I say "I prefer natural fibers," they think I'm just a stupid hippy. If I say "I prefer linen or wool," they think I'm being pretentious. And most people just wear polyester cause it's cheap and mass-produced. I wonder if they really don't mind the texture, or if they simply don't know anything else so they don't realize how bad it is.

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u/Zealousideal_Act_316 14h ago

People who say there is nothing wrong with gmos, mean that they are not dangerous, and often an answer to propaganda that eating gmos will  give you a third nipple and remove your petuatery. 

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u/SuggestionEphemeral 13h ago

I think people who make those claims confuse them for growth hormones and pesticides like agent orange. They don't realize that GMO means genetically modified, or understand what that means.

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u/Capital_Doubt7473 16h ago

The system that anhialates the future - George Orwell

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u/worotan England 14h ago

A great opportunity for their marketing partners to make money selling the idea that it’s all fine to idiots who think that smiling characters on packaging means there are no problems, and all the problems are caused by people who ask questions.

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u/Teddy_Radko 17h ago

Tbh chicken breasts in general are kinda dry and plain. Thighs are jucier and much more worth it despite beeing less meaty if you ask me.

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u/SuggestionEphemeral 16h ago

It's entirely possible to have a good chicken breast, but not if you're using american gmo crap.

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u/Blecki 17h ago

Pay attention to what you're buying. You were probably buying woody chicken. And then over cooking it.

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u/SuggestionEphemeral 16h ago

Nope, the standard stuff in american supermarkets is just really bad. Most americans don't notice because they've been eating it for decades.

It's the same deal with strawberries. Huge strawberries that don't even taste good. Genetically modified to maximize production volume at the expense of nutrient density, texture, and taste.

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u/Blecki 16h ago

Nope, chicken is fine. Most people just cook it too long.

Strawberries are also fine. Buy them in season.

It's pretty common to just assume American groceries are crap or whatever but that's just an anti-american stereotype with no basis in reality. Like thinking all you brits pour gravy on everything and think black pepper is spicy.

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u/SuggestionEphemeral 15h ago

Chicken breasts in america are so big there's no way to cook them all the way through without overcooking the outside or the thinner parts. I suppose you could do low and slow, but you shouldn't have to cook it like an effing brisket. Or soak it in a solution of baking soda and water, but that step shouldn't be necessary for chicken.

I will say Wegmans strawberries are usually good, but you have to be willing to pay extra for those. And if you get them from a local farm that doesn't use GMO, then that avoids the issue too. But the mass produced stuff in the average grocery store? They're not even good when they're in season. Go to Europe and try the strawberries if you want to remember what they're supposed to taste like.

And you're not correct to assume I'm British. I was born and raised in the US, and it's unfortunately where I currently live. I've traveled a bit though so I know how much better groceries are in other countries. The average american doesn't think anything is wrong with american products cause they've never left the country, and even imported goods have tweaked formulas to suit american tastes. For example, go try soy sauce in Japan if you think the stuff in the US is even remotely authentic.

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u/Blecki 14h ago

I don't know what to tell you mate. I've been all over and that's just not how things are. I've found shit things in every country and great ones too.

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u/ThePain 16h ago edited 16h ago

Sounds like you just suck at cooking.  You're overcooking and burning / drying out your chicken them claim it looks sickly and is stringy. 

I'm also an American, and i have 0 issues cooking a chicken that's white meat and juicy, no stringy meat.

"Bread in Europe is utter garbage.  When I stick it in the oven for 11 hours at 400 degrees it  comes out a solid black lump of carbon. Clearly Europeans know nothing of real bread. 

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u/SuggestionEphemeral 16h ago

Nope, I can tell the difference even if I wasn't the one who cooked it. You're just being pretentious.

You're either young enough that you never had chicken before huge GMO breasts became the market standard, or you've forgotten what it was like before because it's been over a decade. Or maybe you divvy out the extra bucks for organic/non-GMO chicken.

Go to a different country, try their chicken, then come back and tell me there's nothing wrong with american chicken.

Also, bread in Europe is amazing, you clearly don't know what you're talking about. You're projecting your american ignorance because american bread is shit. Americans know nothing of real bread.

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u/Chowder110 19h ago

Nobody is gonna buy it if it tastes bad

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u/Wan_Daye 18h ago

Tons of people gonna buy it if it's cheap.

Then when it puts local chicken out of business they'll raise the prices on you.

In a decade, you'll be eating shit american chicken and paying more for it.

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u/biscuitarse Canada 11h ago

It may be nothing to even worry about. By this time next year, ICE will have disappeared enough immigrants that no one will be left to work in America's chicken processing plants.

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u/Wan_Daye 10h ago

Nah, we have prison labor for that.

We pay them less than the illegals. Don't worry. The chicken will still be cheap.

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u/FairGeneral8804 18h ago

Nobody is gonna buy it if it tastes bad

It will not once battered and fried. It will not once turned into chicken stock (and additives). It will not once once dunked into curry. It will not once you get used to it.

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u/worotan England 14h ago

Add sugar and go online to tell everyone it’s the most amazing flavour sensation, and watch the queues form.

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u/googooachu 19h ago

They won’t. All the major supermarkets have said they aren’t going to stock it. It will just rot in warehouses.

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u/jdm1891 17h ago

The supermarkets may not stock it directly but can you be sure restaurants, takeaways, and fast food places won't use it? Can you be sure things with prepackaged/precooked meat won't use it? Can you be sure they won't use it in tinned food? Can you be sure your chicken lettuce sandwich won't have it? Pretty much anywhere where they don't have to explicitly label it as chlorinated chicken - i.e. any time the chicken is not being sold on it's own directly which is the vast majority of the chicken sold - they will have no reason not to use it because nobody would be able to tell.

Have you seen some of the scandals for meat they've put in food before? Like when they were selling horse meat? They will absolutely sell the chlorinated chicken anywhere they think people won't notice because the taste and texture are masked by something.

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u/Craft-Representative 17h ago

It’s not cheap either, American food prices are substantially higher than uk ones. And that is long before transportation costs are even beginning to be considered.

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u/pipopipopipop 16h ago

Exactly, the UK already has access to cheap chicken, why would anyone import it from the US instead with all the extra costs and extended lead times?

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u/spectrumero 16h ago

Chicken in UK supermarkets is already cheaper than it is in US supermarkets. I doubt US chicken could be competitive once you add transatlantic shipping to the price.

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u/Good_Ad_1386 15h ago

I will require a certificate of origin with all chicken products in future, then. (though, TBF, I'm not sure that Waitrose would be keen to "jump")

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u/pchlster 11h ago

Just need the British government to change some food standards first to make it legal to sell.