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Farming Today: Chlorine Washes, EFRA report, Pasture-Fed Livestock and Welsh Pork

US secretary of agriculture, EFRA Committee reports, haricot beans

06/06/2018

Chlorine Washes, EFRA report, Pasture-Fed Livestock and Welsh Pork

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Chlorine Washes, EFRA report, Pasture-Fed Livestock and Welsh Pork

Research reveals chlorine washes on salad leaves are failing to kill off harmful bacteria.

New research has revealed chlorine washes, which are used on salad leaves before they are bagged for the supermarket shelves do not get rid of harmful bacteria, such as salmonella and listeria. Scientists at Southampton University found that chlorine made the bugs go dormant; allowing them to slip under the radar of food safety tests and go undetected. Dormant bacteria can't be grown in a lab - or cultured - meaning the plant material would be signed off as fit for human consumption when it might not be. Anna Hill talks to Professor Bill Keevil, lead author of the report.

The people in charge of promoting Welsh meat - Hybu Cig Cymru - have said pig production could be a profitable alternative if Welsh lamb and beef exports take a tumble after Brexit. But can a country famed for growing grass for sheep and cattle - not grain for pigs - really make a go of pork production? 

MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee want more details from the Government on a future agricultural policy, in a new report published today. 'The Future for Food, Farming and the Environment' report is their response to the Health and Harmony consultation paper.

And in the latest of a series of reports looking at pastures and meadows, Toby Field meets organic farmer Luke Hasell in Somerset who's rearing his cattle on a purely pasture-fed diet. 

Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Anna Jones.

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