USDA Seeks Labeling
For Water In Poultry

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. —(AP)— Poultry companies would have to disclose the water content of chicken and turkey under a proposed change in federal rules.

The rule, a response to a consumer and beef-industry lawsuit, would require the industry to keep water out of poultry carcasses or specify the water weight in new labels.

The rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. After a public comment period, the agency may issue its final ruling in six months to a year.

Poultry processors haven't seen the proposed rule, but USDA estimates it would mean $18.4 million in relabeling costs.

Poultry carcasses pick up extra moisture in the processing plants when immersed in a tank of cold water after being eviscerated. The chilling is necessary to quickly reduce a bird's body temperature, but chickens can absorb up to eight percent of their body weight in water.

Regulations now permit processors to sell chickens with the extra water without telling customers. The beef industry uses air chilling and is not allowed to add water weight to its products.

USDA estimates that consumers pay about $796 million a year for extra water in chickens.

In 1994, a group of consumers and red meat producers sued the USDA over the disparity. A U.S. District Court in 1997 set aside the USDA's existing regulations, which it said did not justify the different treatment for poultry and red meat.

U.S. poultry producers are not likely to switch to air chilling because water chilling is quicker and cheaper.

Amy Waldroup, a researcher and professor in the University of Arkansas' Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, said air and water chilling work equally well, but air chilling renders chickens less appealing to the consumer.

"The skin has a different texture," she said. "I don't think the consumer would accept the appearance. They just look more dried out, and any blemish is accentuated."

Livestock industry groups had wanted rules strictly prohibiting the addition of water to poultry, and the USDA proposal stops short of that.