Watery chook annoys home cook
The poultry industry is adamant suppliers are not pumping raw chicken with water to increase its weight.
Its response follows a complaint to the Commerce Commission from home cook Andrew Simpson, who said his Countdown-bought chicken was ‘‘almost impossible’’ to cook in a pan.
Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand (PIANZ) executive director Michael Brooks said his organisation covered more than 99 per cent of New Zealand’s chicken processors – and they did not add water to meat.
If water was added it was in the form of a marinade or brine solution and had to be labelled as an ingredient on the packaging, he said.
Most meat naturally contained a lot of water, so some excess liquid was expected to come from chicken when it was cooked by any method.
A Ministry for Primary Industries spokesperson said the Food Standards Code allowed water to be used as a ‘‘processing aid’’ without needing to be labelled as an ingredient, despite the meat soaking up some of that water.
In his complaint to the commission, Simpson said he was sick of his chicken stir-fry resembling soup.
Simpson said suppliers ‘‘were adding something’’ to their meat to make it weigh and cost more. He drained 500ml of liquid from 2kg of chicken breast cooked in a cast iron pan with olive oil and salt.
He said he did not see any additional ingredients listed on the packet of the boneless and skinless chicken breast he bought online from Countdown.
Countdown spokeswoman Kate Porter said on Monday that its suppliers did not add water to its chicken to make it weigh more.
The commission has not reviewed Simpson’s claim yet.
Simpson said he was not a poultry processing expert and he would not be surprised if the commission did not investigate his claim.