Sodium
Brined "enhanced" chicken
Draft · dietitian review pending
What actually happens
Sodium phosphate injected for weight.
The fix
Check sodium per 100 g: under 150 mg is fine, 300+ is brined.
The numbers
- Sodium per 100 g, plain chicken
- under 150 mg
- Sodium per 100 g, brined chicken
- 300+ mg
Chicken breast is the backbone of my week. So this one stung.
A lot of chicken in the store has been "enhanced." That's a polite word for injected with a salty solution, sodium phosphate included, so the meat holds water and weighs more at the till. You pay for the water. You eat the salt. The front of the package still just says chicken.
The test I use now takes five seconds. Flip the package over and find sodium per 100 g. Under 150 mg, it's plain chicken. 300 mg or more, it's been brined, whatever the front says.
Plain chicken is what goes on my grill for the weekly batch, into the sous vide and onto the sheet pan. If salt is going on my chicken, I'd rather be the one deciding how much.
It's also a nice moment of being smarter than the packaging. I'll take those where I can get them.