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.

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

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.

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.

Also ham and almost all boiled and reconstituted meats.

Is this legal in the EU?

Common with red meat also.

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 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.

So just the same as adding water to milk

Why is this even legal?

This makes the chicken taste better too.

Eat less meat and buy Quality.If still undecided, a temporary job in a meatpack factory will be helpful.

This is why I don't buy chicken from costco. Thankfully theres a good provider (Sunrise Farms) from Richmond on the Lower Mainland that makes a frozen skinless, boneless breat that's cheaper than Costco, cooks to nearly the same size it started as the water content is low, and is semi-local to Vancouver Island.