TRADE Secretary Liam Fox has insisted US chlorinated chicken is safe – as he talked up hopes for a Brexit deal with the States.

Days after Washington demanded Britain open the door to US agricultural produce as the price of any deal, Dr Fox said much of our salad was washed in chlorine before it hits the supermarket.

And he said: “The question is not about safety, the question is about the implications for animal welfare further down the track.”

It threatens to spark another Cabinet rift with Environment Secretary Michael Gove – who insisted last year any deal with the US would never dilute our environmental standards.

The comments came as the Trade Secretary was forced to admit the Government wasn’t close to “rolling over” 40 EU free trade deals with other nations in time for Brexit.

He was challenged by the BBC about The Sun’s revelations earlier this month, when we showed that just SIX of the 40 agreements could still be in force under a potential No Deal on March 29.

A leaked colour coded chart revealed ‘amber warnings’ on major agreements with South Korea and Canada – dubbing deliverability “off track”.

Dr Fox said negotiations were “commercially sensitive”.

And he added: “A lot of countries will not make up their minds to have a final agreement until we get to the last days before Brexit.

“A lot of those that were on your chart as being significantly off track we are very close to concluding.”

Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake demanded Dr Fox come clean about the details.

He said: “Fox says that revealing the status of trade negotiations with key global allies is commercially sensitive.

“But in reality his inability to secure trade deals is professionally sensitive, when the truth comes out it could cost him his job.”