A minister told an interviewer to “get a life” when he questioned her about claims that smoky bacon crisps could be banned under a European Union food and farming deal.

Environment secretary Dame Angela Eagle was far from impressed when asked about a report that the crisp flavour could fall foul of planned EU laws that would prohibit the use of “meaty” terms to describe vegetarian food.

Stig Abell, host, also likened the proposed law to the Brexit debate about bendy bananas, where Brexiteers claimed that Brussels bureaucrats determined the shape of bananas, although there was no ban on the curved fruit.

Asked whether closer alignment with the bloc could lead to the banning of the bacon crisps’ labelling, Dame Angela 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.

“This is actually about ensuring that we can do business with our closest neighbours.”

“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.

“If you want to obsess about smoky bacon crisps, I suppose that’s your choice.”

Negotiations are still ongoing ahead of the EU summit on 20 November where three deals are expected to be discussed, surrounding food and drinks, emissions trading, and youth mobility.

A Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) trade deal, drafted by the EU side, suggests that much of the so-called Brexit red tape around food and drink could be removed. This could have a wide-ranging impact on goods such as sausages, cheese, flowers and more.

The government has estimated that a deal could add up to £5.1 billion a year to the economy in a move that could slash red tape for farmers, producers and businesses across the UK.

But in return for lifting regulations for exporters, the UK could be expected to commit to observing and adapting to existing EU regulations on plant, animal and food trade standards. Both UK and EU delegations are still discussing the terms for any deals expected to be presented at the summit.

Dame Angela declined to commit to giving farmers more time to adapt to new trading arrangements with the EU, arguing that removing post-Brexit barriers as quickly as possible would bring “huge economic benefits”.

Pressed on why the government had rejected farmers’ calls for a 24-month transition period to prepare for changes, she said ministers were listening closely to their concerns.

She told theprogramme: “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.”

It comes as former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier suggested the UK could rejoin the EU without having to adopt the euro, but would have to accept freedom of movement and membership of the single market.

Andy Burnham has said the government will “explore options” following the UK-EU summit for a different long-term relationship with the bloc.

His remarks in recent weeks have fuelled questions about the prospect of the UK returning to the EU or adopting its freedom of movement rules, but the prime minister has insisted voters would ultimately be “the boss” of any changes.