Consumers slugged for watery ham
SUPERMARKET shelves are awash with watery meat, and some manufacturers are selling ham that is more than a third water, according to tests by consumer advocate Choice.
SUPERMARKET shelves are awash with watery meat, and some manufacturers are selling ham that is more than a third water, according to tests by consumer advocate Choice.Woolworths Deli Leg Ham has the least meat and the most added water, the survey found. A 100-gram pack costs $1.60 and has 53% meat and 38% water, meaning consumers pay 57 cents for the water.Woolworths Premium Lite Leg Ham has the second highest percentage of water at 27%, costing customers 61 cents for the water, and contains about 67% meat.Primo charges the most for its water, with one product, Primo Low Salt Leg Ham Shaved, containing 23% water at a cost of 79 cents of the total $3.45. Two other Primo products - Champagne Leg Ham and Honey Leg Ham Shaved - contain 19% water at a cost of 68 cents from a total cost of $3.45 and $3.38 respectively.The Choice tests, conducted on 49 types of packaged ham, found most contained chemicals specifically added to retain extra water, including phosphate used to increase the water-binding capacity of the meat's muscle fibres.Laboratory testing measured the overall water content of the ham and deducted the amount of water that is a normal component of pork based on the percentage of meat stated on the label.The survey found a third of the slices tested contained 20% or more of added water. Woolworths spokesman Benedict Brook said the price of ham varied depending on the meat content. He said some manufacturers published a meat percentage on their product packaging based on the raw meat ingredients before they had been processed. However, that percentage of meat might already contain water, he said.
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