Chicken Soup: we test how much water is released when frying a supermarket chicken breast.
A simple cooking experiment has confirmed claims that some supermarket chicken breasts will release around 20 per cent of their weight in water when cooked in a frying pan.
The Commerce Commission is looking into a complaint that water is being added to fresh chicken breasts in order to increasethe sell weight.
Facebook user Andrew Simpson approached the Commission after he said he drained 500ml of liquid from 2kg of boneless chicken breast while cooking a chicken stir fry.
In order to verify his claims Herald Focus bought 1kg of the same boneless, skinless chicken breasts that Simpson used to highlight his concerns.
The chicken was cut into similar-sized pieces and then cooked in a large frying pan.
"You're trying to make a chicken stir fry but end up with chicken soup because Countdown Supermarkets load up their Barnwell Chicken with so much extra water to increase the sell weight. C'mon guys - fair play," he posted on Facebook.
TFW you're trying to make a chicken stir fry but end up with chicken soup because Countdown Supermarkets load up their...
Countdown spokeswoman Kate Porter said the company had spoken to its chicken suppliers and confirmed there was no added liquid in the fresh chicken.
The company was talking to Simpson directly to get more details about the product and how it was cooked so it could investigate further, she said.
The Commerce Commission warned two chicken producers this year over packaging representations about the size of chickens.
The Commission considered that Inghams and Tegel were likely to have made misleading representations about chicken size by including stuffing and marinade in the weight of chickens.
