According to the Spero News European Commission President Jose Barroso and Vice-President Guenter Verheugen, responsible for business and industry matters, are believed to have backed US government requests to lift the ban.

However, scientists, poultry producers and consumers have warned that chlorine-bleached meat could be a threat to public health.

"The poultry industry in the United States uses four chemical antimicrobial substances to treat meat: chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, trisodium phosphate and peroxyacids," Nikos Katsaros, former president of the Hellenic Food Authority, told the Athens News. "These substances downgrade the quality of poultry and could even create resistive germs. In the worst-case scenario, these chlorine-based substances could be absorbed by chickens and cause all sorts of problems."