A Cabinet minister told an interviewer to “get a life” over a question about smoky bacon crisps.
Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle was asked whether closer alignment with the European Union could lead to restrictions on the crisps' labels.
Speaking to Times Radio host Stig Abell, she compared the issue to the debate about EU rules on bananas during the Brexit referendum.
She said: “Oh, Stig. I mean, really, we’ve had EU straight bananas, and now we’re talking about banning smoky bacon crisps, I think you should get a life.”
Dame Angela added: “If you want to obsess about smoky bacon crisps, I suppose that’s your choice.”
The concerns relate to whether rules on the use of meat names for products without meat could affect flavour descriptions, rather than ban the crisps themselves.
FoodNavigator reported that the European Snacks Association had raised the possibility that flavours such as smoky bacon could be caught by the rules.
It also reported that an amendment had been proposed to exempt products including snacks from restrictions on flavour descriptions.
The question comes ahead of a UK-EU summit in Brussels on November 20, where Prime Minister Andy Burnham is expected to seek agreements on food and farming, emissions trading and youth mobility.
The proposed food deal is expected to align the UK with EU plant, animal and food trade standards to remove post-Brexit checks on exports.
Dame Angela argued that reducing barriers would make it easier for farmers and food producers to trade with Europe.
She said: “We’ve got huge potential growth in our economy if we allow our farmers and food producers to be able to export into Europe again without all the huge uncertainty and the costs and frictions that Brexit brought us.”
“This will be a deal that improves that situation and it will enable this economy to grow and for us to have higher levels of prosperity than we’ve had before.”
The minister declined to commit to giving farmers more time to adapt to the new trading arrangements, saying that removing barriers quickly would bring “huge economic benefits”.
Asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the Government's rejection of farmers' calls for a 24-month transition, she said ministers were listening to their concerns.
She said: “The transition is a balance between getting and accessing those benefits as quickly as possible, but dealing with some of the transitional issues that you have to deal with whenever you’re moving from one system to another.”
Mr Burnham has said the deals could raise GDP by 0.4%, compared with a previous estimate of 0.3%.
Meanwhile, former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier suggested the UK could negotiate to rejoin the bloc without being obliged to adopt the euro, but would have to accept freedom of movement and single market membership.
He told Sky News: “If it is the choice of the UK to ask for a new negotiation to rejoin, it’s perfectly possible to begin such a negotiation without any kind of obligation to take part in the euro.”
On the single market, Mr Barnier said: “There is no … possible negotiation on any kind of cherry-picking or the single market ‘a la carte’.”
Mr Burnham has said the Government will “explore options” for a different long-term relationship with the EU after the summit.
He has insisted voters would be “the boss” of any changes, amid questions about EU membership and freedom of movement.
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