Are chickens injected with water?
Some meat processors do pump chicken with water and ‘hydrolysed’ proteins in an effort to make them look bigger, in fact some chicken fillets have been found to contain as much as 50% added water. These proteins are added to the chicken to allow the meat to retain more water. The practice of injecting chicken with water and proteins is not illegal, as long as it is accurately labelled. The Food Standards Agency, who is responsible for overseeing the regulation of the practice in the UK has been told to crackdown on the use of water and water retention agents by EU inspectors to be in line with EU standards. While there is no known risk to health, some of the proteins are derived from beef or pork which has implications for those following religious dietary restrictions, plus the price of chicken is based on weight so pumping chicken full of water is basically a rip-off.