Supermarkets selling chicken that is nearly a fifth water

(Guardian) Consumers paying 65p a kilo for water, as legality of process of 'tumbling' imported chicken called into question.

Frozen chicken breasts on sale in leading supermarkets are being pumped up with water and additives that make up nearly a fifth of the meat to the point where consumers are paying about 65p a kilo for water, the Guardian can reveal.

The legality of the industrial process, in which cheap imported chicken is "tumbled" in cement mixer-like machines, has also been called into question, but the products are available in discount ranges sold in high street retailers.

One large poultry processor in the UK, Westbridge Food Group, is importing raw frozen Brazilian chicken to which salt or a mix of corn oil and salt has already been added, then "tumbling" it with water and water-binding additives.

The meat is then repacked for sale as frozen chicken breast fillets in leading supermarkets. Asda, Aldi and Iceland all sell frozen Brazilian chicken tumbled this way by Westbridge as part of their own-label discount ranges.

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