Supermarkets have been criticised for the level of water contained in some of their packs of bacon .
An investigation by consumer watchdog Which? found that four out of 15 supermarket own-brand bacon products are breaking food regulations by containing more than 10 per cent water and not informing shoppers of this added water content.
Bacon contains water naturally and adding water to food is not illegal. But under the Meat Products Regulations, water content that exceeds 10 per cent must be indicated in the product’s name, e.g. ‘bacon with added water’.
The Which? study found that none of the four products that had more than 10 per cent declared it in their labelling.
These were Essential Waitrose unsmoked British back bacon, Morrisons Sizzlers rindless unsmoked back bacon, Sainsburys Basics unsmoked back bacon and Tesco unsmoked back bacon .
Researchers also found that Morrisons Value Rindless back bacon had the lowest added water on average, at 3 per cent, but ironically the retailer’s pricier standard range also had the highest level of added water at 13 per cent.
Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons all disagreed with the test results.
Commenting on the findings, Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said: “Once again, we’ve found examples of supermarkets failing to give consumers clear and concise information about the food they’re eating – and to make matters worse, we believe they’re actually in breach of regulations here.”
“We’ve raised this issue with the relevant Trading Standards authorities.”
