Here is a short that tells of what's going here. This short is also a reaction, from an independent farmer who farms chickens. I think the creator here, FarmingWhileBeige, offers a lot of good insight into what is bad and not bad in our current farming practices as a level headed not batshit crazy maga person.

Here in Denmark how much water is in the chicken is written on the label of the packaging. It is also required to list what ingredients are used to treat the chicken if anything besides water is used.

This makes the chicken taste better too.

I guess i can cut back to four chickens a day

Also, at least in my area, I believe there is a mislabeling scam going on. At least twice now I have bought boneless skinless chicken thighs from 2 different grocery stores (different chains) and the weight has been like ~15% lower than advertized.

Like a package of chicken thighs labeled at 3.11lbs (1.4kg) actually weighed roughly 2.67lbs (1.2kg), 14% less. One labeled at 2.49lbs (1.13kg) actually weighed roughly 2.1lbs (0.95kg), 16% less.

Some of that may be accounted for by the absorbant pad sucking out some of that excess liquid they pump in, but it shouldn't be so radically different

Ehh, a restaurant would salt it past there anyway. Culinarily, you'd be well within reason to brine fresh chicken.

Price per pound is pretty bullshit thought, making it cost at the price if meat is BS

This is a good example of using technically true facts to imply something that isn't actually representative.

Yes, some chicken is sold with an added salt-water solution. That's not a secret it's disclosed right on the label. But presenting the maximum legal numbers as if they apply to all supermarket chicken is misleading.

"Up to 30%" is the ceiling, not the average. Likewise, "up to 500 mg of sodium" describes heavily enhanced products, not ordinary chicken. Plenty of chicken is sold with no added solution at all, and consumers can choose whichever they prefer simply by reading the packaging.

This post also frames the added solution as though it's some kind of deceptive adulteration. In reality, it's added to improve moisture retention and consistency during cooking, and it's regulated and clearly labeled.

So the takeaway isn't "supermarkets are secretly selling watered-down chicken." The takeaway is much less dramatic: read the label. If you want unenhanced chicken, buy unenhanced chicken. If you don't mind the added solution, buy the enhanced product. Manufacturing practices are not evidence of a conspiracy just because someone cherry-picked the largest numbers they could find.

As someone with POTS, I for one am okay with sodiummaxxing 😎

I've seen people getting upset about this. I'm only upset because I have kidney issues and have to watch my sodium and meat really fucks me when it comes to sodium content.

Look for "air-chilled chicken" to find chicken that doesn't have this.

Also some organic brands don't do this because of the laws around chemical use making chlorine not possible. Brands vary, though.

Farmers markets are another route.

So just the same as adding water to milk

Why is this even legal?

Here in the EU, I just looked at some packed chicken. It's marinated, but still: the ingredients say it contains only 87% actual chicken meat, then water, then salt. 13% marinade seems a bit much. It's not swimming in sauce. Not sure if it's been plumped too.

It's a truism that all sorts of industrially produced & packaged meat shrink when you cook/fry it.

It would be interesting to know what the leagl situation is around here. I checked wikipedia and it refers only to the USA.

Buy halal meats. Or from an actual butcher.

Is this legal in the EU?

Lol it's called a brine

Jesus christ.

Also ham and almost all boiled and reconstituted meats.

I'd also add that if you cook those plumped up chicken breasts, they will immediately release all that extra brine into your dish and ruin it. Buy normal-size chicken breasts and resist the urge to go for the "best" weight to price ratio.

This is done to avoid botulin toxin from being formed. It's a much, much bigger issue than the sodium intake

Common with red meat also.