Why YSK: consuming too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. In my country (USA), the average daily sodium intake is over 3,300mg, exceeding the recommended maximum of 2,300mg. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends an even lower maximum of 2,000mg.
Also: with the rising cost of food, being mindful of additives that increase sell weight is important.
Buy halal meats. Or from an actual butcher.
Butchers are so rare around me and far more expensive. I would love to be able to afford it as it’s a much more delightful experience and the meat is always so much better.
There’s a butcher shop near my work that also has a fantastic café attached. The meat is all absolutely exquisite looking, but you’re god damned right that its insanely expensive like at least double or triple the price of meat at your typical store. We pretty much only ever buy their in-house pepperoni sticks and even those are around $16 a pound.
I justify it as “not paying for extra water” after cooking. Lol
Depends on how much more you pay
Huh, what does halal have to do with this? Halal-slaughtered chickens are allowed to be plumped as well.
I was told they’re not allowed to do that, and based on my experience, it’s been true so far. Maybe it’s just my specific grocer is good?
Plumping is just injecting saltwater into the meat after it has already been killed. And that’s fine, as neither salt nor water are forbidden in Islam. The only thing that could matter is that it’s clearly labeled on the packaging how much percentage the meat is vs how much saltwater was added, as you’re not supposed to be deceptive.
But considering some countries generally lax product labeling laws, I assume you could still get a greyzone, where it could be labeled as “halal-slaughtered chickens” - but the actual product wouldn’t pass a stricter control due to undisclosed brine.
So it’s also likely you have a good grocer, but just know that you can’t automatically trust some halal-stamp if you want to avoid plumping.
Oh, thanks for that explanation. I’ve only been going to same halal grocer since shrinkflation started so that would make sense.