Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Has your chicken been "plumped"


Apparently chicken plumping sells $2,000,000,000 of salt water per year in the USA.

What's plumping?

Plumping involves injecting "fresh" chicken with water, salt and sometimes seaweed extract to make the chicken look juicier yet still retain the label, "all natural". Plumping can also raise the amount of sodium per serving of chicken to almost as much as you'd find in a serving of french fries.

How do you defend yourself against being plumped?

Simple. Read the ingredients. If they include water, salt and/or carrageenan you're buying salt water along with your chicken at $4.99 or so a pound.

[Via the WSJ]