Costs Rica: Are You Buying Meat But Paying for Water?

Meat eaters in Costa Rica may feel a decrease in the weight of their food when cooked and are left with no way of complaining, as vendors inject the meat with water and other additives to retain moisture and make it look bigger, through a process of tenderization.



The existing regulation allows tenderization, however, there are no limits or controls.  The process allows vendors to charge meat prices for water; to charge the same price - sometimes more - for cheaper grades of meat.

The only defense for the consumer is reading the label, however, there is no testing criteria to determine how much water was injected into the meat, so a vendor can inject any amount of water they want, to increase the volume and weight of the product.

"Butchers are required to tell the customer if the meat is tenderized, but not the amount of water used. They do not have a ceiling limit. The only way that consumers realize this is when in the kitchen. The rules are inadequate to protect the customer", says Cynthia Zapata, Director of Consumer Advocacy for the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Comercio (MEIC).

Zapata added that it is "normal" for meat to lose weight when cooking or defrosting, but there should not be a large-scale reduction.

The MEIC is working on new regulations to protect consumers on the subject of meat tenderization and design a test to determine the amount water and other additives injected into the meat.

For now, the only protection the consumer has is the confidence in their butcher.