Meat water content

I refer to the letter by Lorna Cachia, legal adviser to the Malta Standards Authority. In her partial reply, she has avoided the real issue.

I was not referring to water content that is naturally found in all living creatures with its variable quantity. I had in mind artificially injected water in meat and poultry.

I believe this process is called hydrogenisation or the application of chemicals intended to effect water retention in the animal prior to killing it for meat.

Is this process carried out in Malta and does the relevant authority allow imported food that has such a high degree of water content in food products to the level of about 50 per cent of gross weight?

I would expect a better answer from the Malta Standards Authority and indeed from the authority or person responsible for allowing the Maltese consumer to be fobbed off with what amounts to a fraud or, at the very least, a sharp and profitable practice not to mention the low standards that we seem to tolerate in this country.