Pork sold 'with added water, at higher price'

British supermarkets are padding out raw pork with added water and selling it alongside fresh meat, it emerged today.

A survey of Britain’s leading chains carried out by trading standards officers in Shropshire revealed that raw pork with added water was being sold alongside genuine raw pork – often at a premium price.

Information about the added water can only be found in small print, leading to confusion for the consumer, the study found.

The UK's Trading Standards Institute (TSI) is now calling for the Food Standards Agency to ensure fresh meat is clearly labelled when it contains water and additives.

TSI spokesman David Walker said: “The practice of adding water to ham and chicken products is already commonplace but, until now, at least consumers could be sure that raw meat was genuine.

“This is the thin end of a very large wedge. Marketing practices like this can spread very quickly.”

He said supermarkets had begun adding water to pork from the end of 2002 but consumers remain largely unaware.

The institute wants the wording “added water” to be the same size as the description of the meat. It is also asking for meat with added water to be sold in a separate section to raw fresh meat.

The survey revealed some products with added water contained as little as 87% meat. While the average cost of genuine pork loin steaks was £6.92 (€10.36) per kg (2.2lb), the average cost of pork loin steaks with added water was £7.30 (€10.94) per kg.

Some of the diluted meats were being sold as premium products at a premium price.

Sue Davies, principal policy adviser for the Consumers’ Association, said the practice was “outrageous”.

She said: “This is little more than old-fashioned food adulteration and the industry and Food Standards Agency must ensure that if these products continue to be sold, they can’t be confused with fresh meat.”