Sodium-laden Chicken

I was so angry when I heard this story, because chicken is one of those foods that people trying to get healthy should be able to trust. And they're talking about the chicken that we cook at home, in an effort to avoid processing.

Here's what's happening: More than 30% of chicken in grocery stores is injected with saltwater. Those numbers will most likely continue to grow unless the Department of Agriculture steps in to change standards in labeling.

The saltwater adds weight to the product (up to 15%), meaning you pay more per pound. But even more insidious,

A serving of the plumped chicken can contain more than five times the amount of sodium as a serving of regular chicken, [Senator Barbara] Boxer said. A serving of chicken typically has 70 milligrams of sodium, but a serving of the injected chicken can contain about 370 milligrams. The Institute of Medicine just last week lowered the daily recommended amount of sodium to 1,500 milligrams per day.

Discouraging, huh?

Foster Farms has built its ad campaign on the fact that it doesn't plump its chickens, but I, like I'm sure many, didn't realize how prevalent the practice is. The ads are clever, and, given this story, timely. If I find more poultry brands who explicitly ban "enhancing," I'll add to this post.