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It sounds pretty disgusting: dipping chicken carcasses into chlorinated water to prevent microbial contamination from the animal's digestive tract to the meat.

But, in the US, it is standard practice in non-organic produce, with American farmers arguing it improves consumer safety in a business worth $90bn dollars per year.

The practice is banned here in the EU - along with spraying pig carcasses with lactic acid - not because of any inherent risk to consumers, but primarily to stop farmers cutting corners on hygiene.

However, as soon as Britain leaves the EU, so-called Big Food lobbyists in America will be pushing any potential US-UK trade deal .

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4:46

That could prove a boon for British shoppers at the checkout (US chicken is roughly a fifth cheaper than EU-produced meat) but it worries environmentalists.

If we open the floodgates to such chicken and pork, what of the 82 pesticides banned by the EU, but in use in the US? Or genetically modified maize? Or cattle fed with animal by-products and genetically modified soya?

Of course, for British farmers, there would be huge compensation: the massive and hungry US market.

At the moment, the UK exports roughly the same volume of goods to the US as we import: a little over £40bn each year.

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1:51

It's a complex picture, and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox can only feel out the contours, as Britain can't sign a trade deal with the US until we have left the EU.

But such issues pitch Dr Fox against Environment Secretary Michael Gove, both supporters of Brexit, but now forced to listen to different and vociferous constituencies.

The fear among food standards campaigners would be a race to the bottom, with British farmers demanding a loosening of regulations so they too could start trying controversial and cheaper food production techniques.