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But why do they do it? One reason is because the water makes the product weigh more. So the companies can charge extra money for the food. Click on the links below to find out more.
Do you fancy some soggy ham? It's hard to imagine that anyone would buy water thinking it was meat, but that's what millions of shoppers do every week.
UK laws allow ham and bacon to contain up to 10% (one tenth) water without saying so on the label. This means that a product that claims to contain 'not more than 15% added water' can actually contain 25% water!
Water is often used to bulk out ‘cheap’ meats, such as sliced chicken and ham. But you can also find it in posh nosh, such as these premium Pork Loin Steaks. This product is roughly one tenth added water. The water is held in place by a food additive which binds water to the meat. Added water
isn’t dangerous to health – but it is harmful to our pockets!
Do you think you should be sold water when you think you are paying for
posh pork? Are you buying chicken or water?
Some food-makers inject chicken meat with a solution of pork or beef proteins, which makes the chicken able to hold extra water. This makes the chicken much heavier, so the food-makers can charge more money for it. A couple of
years ago, when government scientists tested chicken in restaurants and
take-away shops, they found some samples were 40% water! The customers
had been cheated! How much are you paying for juice?
One well-known brand of juice drink contains 10% juice. That's about four teaspoons of juice in a little bottle (20ml of juice in a 200ml bottle) and six teaspoons of juice in a big bottle (30ml of juice in a 300ml bottle). You might pay 60p or 70p for a big bottle of the drink. But how would you feel if you paid 60p for a glass of juice in a café, and they only gave you six teaspoons of juice? The juice drink company adds flavoured, sweetened water to fill up the rest of the bottle. Watch out for the words 'juice drink' on bottles and cartons. What it may mean is "lots of water, not very much juice".
Ice cream or ice water? Real dairy ice cream is made from cream and/or whole milk, sugar and egg yolks. It is frozen and flavoured with ingredients such as fruit or vanilla. Such ingredients are relatively expensive, so many manufacturers extend the milk and cream with cheaper skimmed milk, water and vegetable fat. The water bulks out the product and the fat tastes 'creamy' even though it has never seen a cow in its life!
Which do you think is the most expensive? Which do you think is closest to proper ice cream? And which would you prefer to eat - a mixture of reconstituted skimmed milk powder, water, sugar and fat, or a mixture of whole milk, cream and sugar? Most ice cream
is not allowed to be described as 'dairy' ice cream because it contains
added vegetable fat. Ice cream can only be described as 'dairy' ice cream
if it contains no fat other than fat from milk. The scampi scam
Government tests in 2002 found scampi containing up to 44% added water. Other tests have shown similar levels of added water in other seafood products. That is a lot of added water, and it didn't even include the ice that frozen scampi is sometimes coated with. It is legal
for companies to add water to food, but they do not have to tell you how
MUCH they added, so it is hard to tell if you are being ripped off.
Click here to download activity sheets on the subject of factory food
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Water
is a very cheap ingredient. Some companies have come up with clever ways
of adding extra water to your food. 
Products
such as canned ham can contain an amazingly small amount of real meat.
The product in the picture is only 55% meat (just over half) – padded
out with water, ‘pork protein’ (gelatine), 
Turkey
can also contain added water. This turkey ham product is just 60% meat
(less than two thirds). The label doesn't tell you how much water has
been added. Just as for many other meat products, they don't admit they've
added water. So it's hard for you to judge if you're getting good value
for money in comparison to other products.
Posh
pork and polyphosphates
Have
you ever had a chicken curry or a chicken burger? How much of it was real
chicken? Without knowing it, you might have eaten a lot of water, and
even bits of pork and beef. 
How
can a food company make lots of extra money from selling fruit juice?
Answer? Add lots of water!
The
main ingredients in the ice cream in the rectangular tub shown in the
picture are reconstituted skimmed milk powder, water, sugar and vegetable
fat. 
The
main ingredients in the 'dairy ice cream' in the round tub are whole milk,
double cream and sugar. 
Scampi
is a popular seafood treat, but the temptation for producers to increase
their profits is great. Some manufacturers bump up the weight of scampi
by adding water. 
