Food Safety While Hiking, Camping

& Boating

Water in Meat and Poultry

USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline

1-888-MPHotline

(1-888-674-6854)

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is the public health

agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for ensuring

that the nation’s commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products

is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.

Food Safety Information

United States Department of Agriculture

Food Safety and Inspection Service

PhotoDisc

PRODUCT NAME

WATER CONTENT OF MEAT AND POULTRY

PERCENTAGE WATER

RAW COOKED

“Why is all this water in the meat and poultry packages?” “There is so much water in my roast that I can’t brown

it — it’s simmering instead!” “Are they injecting water into chickens?” These are some of the questions that

consumers have asked about water in packages of fresh meat and poultry. Here is some background information

about water in meat and poultry.

Naturally Occurring Moisture Content of

Meat and Poultry

Meat and poultry are composed of naturally occurring

water, muscle, connective tissue, fat, and bone.

People eat meat for the muscle. The muscle is

approximately 75% water (although different cuts

may have more or less water) and 20% protein, with

the remaining 5% representing a combination of fat,

carbohydrate, and minerals. The percentage of

naturally occurring water in meat varies with the

type of muscle, the kind of meat, the season of the

year, and the pH of the meat. Fat in meat is found

both between muscles and within muscles. In both

locations, fat contributes to overall flavor and

juiciness in meats.

Water Content of Meat and Poultry

The amount of naturally occurring water, or moisture,

present in meat and poultry may surprise consumers

(see chart). An eye of round roast is 73% water

before cooking. The same roast after roasting

contains 65% water. A whole broiler-fryer contains

66% water before cooking and 60% afterwards.

Leaner meat and poultry contain more protein and

less fat. Since water is a component of protein (but

not fat), a leaner cut will contain slightly more water

on a per weight basis.

Chicken fryer, whole

White meat chicken, with skin

Dark meat chicken, with skin

Ground beef, 85% lean

Ground beef, 73% lean

Beef, eye of round

Beef, whole brisket

66%

69%

66%

64%

56%

73%

71%

60%

61%

59%

60%

55%

65%

56%
Water in Meat and Poultry

Food Safety Information 2

Leaner Beef Contains More Water

Hotline callers sometimes comment that today’s beef

contains more water and also doesn’t taste the same

as in the past. One reason for this is that today’s

animals are bred to be leaner. Meat from these

animals is naturally leaner and contains more water.

The fat in meat contributes to flavor, so a leaner cut

will taste different than a fattier cut. Some of these

leaner cuts are enhanced with a flavor solution.

Enhanced Meat and Poultry Products

Many grocery stores are now offering meat and

poultry products that have flavoring solutions added

to them. For example, pork chops may be packaged

with a solution of water, salt, and sodium phosphate

(a solution that can add flavor and moisture to

leaner meats). These new products also provide

convenience by saving steps in preparation, such as

“Teriyaki Beef in Teriyaki Sauce.” To prevent

confusion, the presence of flavor solutions must be

stated on the front of the package.

Enhanced or value-added meat and poultry products

are raw products that contain flavor solutions added

through marinating, needle injecting, soaking, etc.

The presence and amount of the solution will be

featured as part of the product name, for example,

“Chicken Thighs Flavored with up to 10% of a

Solution” or “Beef Steak Marinated with 6% of a

Flavor Solution.” The ingredients of the flavor

solution must be prominently identified on the label.

Typically, this information will be on the principal

display panel or the information panel.

The labeling term “marinated” can only be used with

specific amounts of solution. “Marinated” meats can

contain no more than 10% solution; boneless

poultry, no more than 8% solution; and bone-in

poultry, no more than 3% solution.

In the case of enhanced products, the solutions that

are added to the meat or poultry, or into which the

meat or poultry are placed for flavoring, seasoning,

and tenderizing, are intended to be part of the

product. The solutions are required by regulations

and policies to be identified as part of the product

names of the enhanced products, and whether the

solution is incorporated into the product or is freeflowing, it is considered part of the product.

Natural Products

All raw single ingredient meat and poultry qualify as

“natural.” However, certain products labeled as

natural may also contain a flavoring solution

provided the solution contains ingredients that are

minimally processed and not artificial; e.g., natural

flavoring. The amount of solution added to products

bearing natural claims is not limited. All products

claiming to be “natural” should be accompanied by a

brief statement which explains what is meant by the

term “natural.”

Freezing Meat and Poultry

When meat and poultry are frozen, the water that is

a natural component of all meats turns to solid ice

crystals. The water expands when it freezes. The

sharp-edged crystals push into the surrounding

tissue, rupturing the cells. The water that is outside

the cell membrane freezes first. As it does, it leeches

water from inside the cell membranes. When it

thaws, the original balance does not return to

normal. The thawed product will have lost some of its

natural springiness. The water released during

freezing seeps out of the thawing meat and poultry

into the package.

The faster meat and poultry freezes, the smaller the

ice crystals will be. Smaller ice crystals will do less

damage. Products that are flash-frozen by the

manufacturer will have superior quality to fresh

products frozen by the consumer.

Moisture Loss from Meat and Poultry

Meat and poultry are transported from slaughter and

processing plants in refrigerated trucks that can be

kept as cold as 1 °F. Although they may not be frozen

solid, they are in a semi-frozen or “hard-chilled”

state. Any moisture that is in the product is thus held

in the tissue of the product.

Beef is often ground while partially frozen. Because

ice crystals are in the frozen beef, there may appear

to be more liquid in it.

At the grocery store, the products are displayed in

refrigerator cases as cold as 26 °F. At this

temperature, the cells of the product will “loosen up”

somewhat and some of the moisture will melt and

gradually seep out. The production of this visible

meat or poultry juice is known in the industry as

weep or purge. It occurs during display of retail cuts,

during shipment of wholesale cuts, and during

storage of cuts prior to shipment.

In a home refrigerator set at 40 °F or below, even

more liquid will seep out of the product. The longer a

product sits in the refrigerator, the more liquid will be

released from the muscle cells.

Packaging of Meat and Poultry

Some meat and poultry products are vacuum-packed

to prolong the storage times. Products are packaged

in air- and leak-proof packages under vacuum, and,

in some cases, a specific gas will be pumped into the

package to preserve flavor and quality. While the

package sits in the refrigerator case, the vacuum is

still in effect, extracting the juices out of the meat.

Because these packages are airtight and leak proof,
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Revised May 2011

Water in Meat and Poultry

FSIS encourages the reprint and distribution of this publication for food safety

purposes. However, the included image from PhotoDisc, used under license, is

protected by the copyright laws of the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere, and may

not be saved or downloaded except for printing of this publication.

Call the USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline

Send E-mail questions to MPHotline.fsis@usda.gov.

the juices accumulate in the package. In contrast,

the plastic wrapped packaging, typically used by

most supermarkets, allows a certain amount of

evaporation.

FSIS Regulations and Policies Relative to

Retained Water

Meat and poultry naturally contain moisture and may

also contain moisture retained from postevisceration processing. During processing, recently

slaughtered animal carcasses and their organ meats

(hearts, livers, kidneys, etc.) are chilled to cool them

down to a safe temperature. The absorption of

water used for post-evisceration processing is called

“retained water” or “absorbed water.” If the

carcasses or parts have absorbed such water, the

amount of water by percentage along with the terms

“retained water’ or “absorbed water,’ (e.g., “up to

X% retained water,” or “may contain up to X%

retained water” or “with X% absorbed water”) must

be stated on the label.

Consumers can compare product labels for the

presence of retained (or absorbed) water to assure

that products compare equally.

Establishments may include a “no-retained-water”

statement on the label when the product has not

been exposed to a post-evisceration process that

adds water, or the establishment has data or

information that establishes that the postevisceration processing used does not add water to

the product.

Retained Water in Raw Poultry Products

Poultry is not injected with water, but some water is

absorbed during cooling in a chill-tank, a large vat of

cold, moving water. The chill-tank lowers the

temperature of the slaughtered birds and their

giblets (hearts, livers, gizzards, etc.). During this

water chilling process, turkeys and chickens will

absorb some of the water, and this amount must be

prominently declared on the label. It is not unusual

for poultry to declare 8 to 12% retained water on the

label.

Retained Water in Raw Meat Products

Beef is rinsed during slaughter, but the small amount

of water used is usually absorbed on the surface of

the meat, not bound to the protein or inside the

tissue, and quickly evaporates or drips out. Meat

processors will periodically shower red meat

carcasses to minimize moisture loss or “shrink” that

occurs in the cooler prior to processing. Beef

carcasses and their parts cooled with water during

post-evisceration processing must be appropriately

labeled with the retained water statement.

Cooking Meat and Poultry

In general, the higher the cooking temperature, the

more moisture will be lost in cooking. It is not

unusual for a beef roast to lose 1/3 of its original

size and weight when cooked at a high temperature

or cooked too long.

Ask Karen!

FSIS’ automated response

system can provide food safety

information

24/7 and a

live chat

during

Hotline

hours.

If you have a question

about meat, poultry,

or egg products, call

the USDA Meat and

Poultry Hotline

toll free at

1-888-MPHotline

(1-888-674-6854)

The hotline is open

year-round

 Monday through Friday from 10

a.m. to 4 p.m. ET (English

or Spanish).

Recorded food safety

messages are available

24 hours a day. Check

out the

FSIS Web site at

www.fsis.usda.gov. AskKaren.gov

PregunteleaKaren.gov