~ The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (Amie) maintains that brined chicken does not benefit consumers, but harms consumer’s health, as it contains high levels of sodium. Amie’s CEO, David Wolpert said: “There is no way that brining, which is a water (99%) and salt and binder mix, can add value or give benefit to the consumer.” Wolpert was reacting to claims by the South African Poultry Association that brined chicken adds value and benefits consumers. The two organisations have been involved in a price battle with Amie fighting against a proposed increase in the tariffs on imported chicken. The organisation claims that this will result in chicken prices skyrocketing, and job losses among the 15000 people who cut, repackage and distribute imported chicken. The association believes that the importers have an unfair advantage over local producers of chicken. Amie lodged a complaint with the Competition Commission against the association and local frozen chicken producers two months ago. It wants the commission to probe anti-competitive brining practices. There has also been ongoing debate about whether local brined chicken is good for the consumer. The association has defended brined chicken as an international practice that adds value to the meat. But Wolpert said high levels of sodium in brined chicken can have a negative impact on consumers. “Sodium (salt levels) in chicken are substantially increased through the addition of brine. These levels over time will have devastating health effects on consumers who suffer from high blood pressure and hypertension caused by these unnatural sodium concentrations. “Protein levels are reduced through the dilution effect of adding water to natural chicken. In laboratory tests performed the protein availability was reduced from 18.6 g/100g to 13.8g/100g,” Wolpert said. He added that it was misleading to the uneducated consumers who do not understand labelling of chicken. “The Department of Agriculture and Forestry has proposed limiting brining to 4% of the original slaughtered weight. Amie supports this level. Over the past 12 months the Association members have injected 538 million litres of water into chicken and sold this water as chicken.” Association CEO Kevin Lovell dismissed Amie’s claims, saying they were motivated by greed and lies. He also rejected allegations that the association members injected 538 million litres of water into chickens. “South African consumers prefer local, brined chicken to imported chicken.”
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 02:54:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015