A trading standards investigation has revealed that some of the UK’s leading supermarket chains are selling raw meat injected with water and additives alongside normal fresh meat, with many consumers unaware of the differences between the products.

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The Trading Standards Institute has called for the UK’s Food Standards Agency to make sure meat injected with water and additives is clearly labelled and sold separately to other fresh meat, reported The Guardian.


“The practice of adding water to ham and chicken products is already commonplace; but, until now, at least consumers could be sure that raw meat was genuine,” David Walker, a spokesman for TSI, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.


The report said a pack of two fresh pork chops under Tesco’s Finest range contained just 89% pork, with the remainder made up of added water, dried glucose syrup, polyphosphates, preservative and partially deodorised rosemary extract. Supermarkets do declare the added ingredients of their fresh meat on the label but, according to TSI, this is often in small print and only serves to confuse shoppers.


“The water isn’t injected to add weight or dupe customers. It is added to improve eating quality,” Tesco spokesman Steve Gracey was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

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Tesco is not the only supermarket to sell fresh meat injected with added water. Asda’s fresh pork loin steaks with garlic butter and added water contain 74% pork, while the Co-op sells pork chops that are 89% pork. Sainsbury’s does not add water to its own brand fresh meat, but does sell branded products that are less than 100% pork.


The Food Standards Agency has known about the practice since February, according to The Guardian. The agency agrees that consumers should not be paying for water instead of meat, but does not think a ban would be appropriate as the meat is safe to eat. Instead, the FSA is trying to encourage more prominent labelling.