Fancy A Quick Tumble, Chicken?

(Photo credit: @Doug88888)

Tumbling is the process whereby water is added to chicken breasts, typically with the addition of phosphates and hydrolised protein to 'bind' the water into the chicken so it doesn't deflate and become a puddle when you cook it. They also add salt - and then dextrose to re-sweeten the salty mix. I'd recommend a read of this excellent piece in The Guardian, which points out that consumers are paying something like 65p a kilo for water.

In the UK this meat is typically sold frozen in discount or bargain lines. Here in the UAE you can find a similar product as 'frozen' or 'marinated' chicken breast. It's not a marinade I'd choose to consume, I can tell you. These pumped breasts can contain anything up to 50% water. Bargain!

Hydrolised meat protein is extracted from bones, skins and other scraps of cows and, where permissible, pigs. This is accomplished using acid to break the meat down into its component amino acids. When it comes into contact with food, hydrolised protein naturally forms MSG or monosodium glutamate - so that watery chicken breast also packs an (unlabelled!) MSG punch.

So there's horse in your beef and beef in your chicken! Yum!