WASHINGTON—In a news conference on Feb. 24, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of Center for Science in the Public Interest, and Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, spoke out about some poultry processors’ practice of injecting chickens with salt water, or so-called “plumping up.” Such chickens can be labeled as '100 percent all-natural, but, according to Sen. Boxer, "There is nothing 'all-natural' about chicken injected with sodium additives."
Jacobson noted that poultry meat's inherent health benefits are diminished when injected with sodium, and the meat’s salt content soars.
During the conference, Mattos quoted a 2004 study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology that characterized USDA's labeling guidelines as "ineffective at best, and misleading at worst."
We are urging USDA to "immediately prevent sodium-injected chicken from using the 'natural' label," Sen. Boxer said, and require all poultry producers to identify added ingredients, such as salted water, in larger print than is now required.