Supermarket bacon pumped full of water
Supermarkets are accused of pumping their bacon with water but haven’t told shoppers.
Rashers sold across the UK by giants such as Waitrose, Morrisons, Tesco, and Sainsbury’s, were found to contain over 10% added water, said consumer champion Which?.
The group claims that the four stores have broken laws that require them to declare added water over the threshold on any pack of bacon they sell. Recently, there have also been mounting concerns that food giants are duping customers by sneakily pumping up other meat such as bacon, chicken, sausages, and ham with enormous amounts of water.
In defence, the producers claim that the added liquid comes as a necessary part of processing while adding succulence. However, many believe it is merely a ploy for the food industry to become richer as it means that shoppers are paying for water that simply disappears during cooking. Among other things, a high water content does a lot to explain why bacon spits masses of fat out and then shrivels to just a fraction of its original size when it is fried.
Which? said that there are variations in the amounts of water added to supermarket bacon, as four out of a total of 15 products fell foul of regulations. After testing, it was revealed that the highest amount of water came from packs of Morrisons’ Sizzlers rindless and unsmoked British back bacon – containing 13% added water overall. Surprisingly though, the least amount, just 3%, was found in cheap bacon from the same supermarket.