American use of the pork additive ractopamine alongside the more publicised practices of washing chicken in chlorine and feeding cattle growth hormones are highlighted in a report by the Soil Association as chief among its concerns about a post-Brexit era.

“Some of the key differences between U.K. and U.S. production — hormone-treated beef, GM crops and chlorinated chicken — are becoming increasingly understood by British consumers,” the report says.

But there are “other areas where products imported from the U.S. could be produced under significantly different standards to our own,” it adds.

The report was published to coincide with the second reading of the trade bill, which will provide a framework for post-Brexit trade deals.

Ractopamine, which can add three kilos of extra meat to a pig, is banned by almost every country except the U.S. The EU has outlawed its use since 1996.

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