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.
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2026
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Chris also explains the chlorinated chicken myth and daily unpacks MAHA bullshit about food.
FarmingWhileBeige is highly recommended. He does a lot of good educational (and sassy) videos about different aspects of the farming industry, and has a good catalogue of funny shorts of reacting to stupid TikTokkers in-between. He has the experience and knowledge, and he'd be the first to tell you to stay the fuck away from the industry unless you're ready to deal with a lot of bullshit.
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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.
Must be nice living in a functioning society.
Sure but you can read European history and find out why. People had to rise up to get this, along with vacations.
You can't vote away evil since the ones who run things are not elected.
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This makes the chicken taste better too.
True, but you can salt or brine the chicken yourself instead of paying more for it.
Also true, but salting it leaves a much dryer, crappier chicken. Brining one works great, but I'd much rather get one already brined vs having to brine one myself like 6 hours before I want to start cooking it. That's a lot of time and a lot of salt I'll only use once before dumping.
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You can buy whole chicken thighs and debone them, or you can buy deboned chicken thighs. Not everyone wants to do the extra work.
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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
Apparently that's a current scandal.
Do you have a link to an actual source that's not just a person talking in their car?
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You should be able to easily report this to a state agency. Governments take standards and measures very seriously and have for thousands of years.
Governments take standards and measures very seriously and have for thousands of years.
Yeah, that was before Trump.
States (and often larger cities) have their own weights and measures bureaus. That's where you'd start even in a period of an Administration friendly to regulatory environments.
We've had ongoing issues here with places including the weight of the packaging. Not as bad as what you've encountered as a % difference, but also not allowed.
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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.
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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.
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.
It's basically just pre-brining them. And the label discloses the added salt water.
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So just the same as adding water to milk
Why is this even legal?
Because the people who write the laws own milk companies, and chicken slaughterhouses?
Is this legal in the EU?
I've always assumed the "mildly salted" chicken is just that.
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Buy halal meats. Or from an actual butcher.
Butchers are so rare around me and far more expensive. I would love to be able to afford it as it's a much more delightful experience and the meat is always so much better.
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Also ham and almost all boiled and reconstituted meats.
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.
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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
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I bought a cheaper brand of meat than usual earlier this year. It was so wobbly it could have been a pillow in a water bed. Needless to say the cooked meat was salty but otherwise tasteless with a consistency of pre chewed porridge.
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