Yes, yes, yes....because they can....and under a rock! LOL!
They are breeding pigs lots leaner these days....which makes for dryer meat....so they add salt "solution"...like they do for turkeys.
Linda c

There are at least two reasons for the sodium and whatever else solution they inject. #1 They can get several dollars a pound for salt water. #2 The pork has become so lean over the years and people feel that they need to cook it for hours on end to make sure it is done and as a consequence the meat is dry as dirt and adding the salt solution can help this dryness to a small extent.

I agree, paddy, they are getting paid for salt solution, better known on labels here as "flavor enhancer". Yeah, right, that would be salt, like we're too dumb to know.

Many people in my generation were told to cook pork well done to avoid trichinosis. It's become ingrained, I think, because today's ultra-lean pork can become very easily overcooked and often is. Thus, the "enhancement" of our pork.

Well, not mine, I grow mine or buy it from a local 4-H kid, but everyone else's....

Annie

I personally don't like that salt solution taste, I know it's supposed to tenderize, but gack. I'll figure out how to tenderize my own thanks :)

About 10 or so years ago I'm standing in front of a case of chickens trying to decide what to buy and I see this label that says "Antibiotic Free", well that grossed the hell out of me because at the time I was going thru chemo and I didn't even know Antibiotics were being injected in the first flipping place! And wondered just how many chickens I'd fed my family without knowing what I was serving them. Turned me off of poultry for a good long time. Antibiotic Free or not.

Anyone who's gone thru some types of chemo know that many foods have an "off" taste anyway, and unfortunately for me that off taste was chemical. Especially frozen orange juice concentrate...I knew we were being poisoned for sure, lol.

Sure wish we had the option to purchase our meats like you Annie.

Look for natural pork, I see it all the time..it's not hard to find but I do look for it.

You cna buy pork like Annie, I know I do as well. It just may be more of a hunt in some parts of the country. Look in one of Joel Salatin or Michael Pollans books for ideas on how to find a local producer. It is easier in some states then others (I live in VT where it is admittedly really easy). If i wasn't so tired I could figure out how to find the places locally for you.

-Robin

Would this help? Just type in your info on the upper right.

Here is a link that might be useful: Local Harvest

Funny I woke to find this post this morning....last night on Food Network Alton Brown had a whole show on Pork and talked about the fact that they started cross breeding 2 different pigs and so accomplished a very lean cut which produces very dry meat....He showed how brines help to moisten pork etc....I rarely buy pork other than pork shoulder,ribs,neckbones,brocciole. I havent noticed that stuff on the pork. Sue did you go to A&S???? How about UNCLE GUISSEPPIES (I go to Smithtown I think yours is Wantagh)...they have everything known to mankind.

Okay now I am less tired I can remember the website I use. Eat Wild is for grass fed meat and eggs. They have more of my local farms listed then local harvest does. Later this month I pick up my lamb!! I can't wait. Yum. last time i made lamb my formerly lamb hating spouse had to admit he "did not have anything he disliked about the dish." He grew up in England where they often confuse lamb and mutton.

-Robin

Here is a link that might be useful: Eat Wild

Thanks everyone for the information, very helpful as always.

Eileen...I did go to A&S (there's one in RVC and one in Oceanside) and theirs is the same as all the others. I went there specifically because I thought it would be 'fresh' but they said it comes in the cry-o-vac just like in Costco and have the same treatment.

Sue

Other than the do-it-yourself factor, how does the "salt solution" the meat processors use differ from brining? It's still salt and water, right? I brined a pork loin a while back. Eh. It was okay. It was salty and soggy. I think brining isn't for me. And we have to watch the salt factor around here.

I have seen pork prepacked that looks like it has been treated. It always looks "wetter" But the butchers and most of the grocery stores around here still sell fresh pork. Even our Costco sells freshly wrapped meats. The tenderloins come three to a tray and have not been subject to additives.

Ann

Deborah, I hate to tell you this, but nearly all meat that is marketed from the big agri-business farms has antibiotics. They cram too many animals into too little space, feed them a cheap diet that's bad for them and the only way they can keep them from dropping over is to pump them full of antibiotics because they are in such an unhealthy environment. Even milk has antibiotics, chicken, beef, everything, unless the label say it's free of those substances. Ditto growth hormones, which are given to nearly every living creature we eat, because they grow fatter faster and that translates into pounds, which we pay for even though we can't eat it.

Yes, buy your beef from a local farmer, pork, eggs, whatever. I just sold an entire beef for $1.60 a pound, hanging weight, and that's home raised, grass fed, organic, growth hormone and antibiotic free beef. I've arranged for slaughter and transport to the meat cutters, all my customers have to do is drive there, pick it up and pay the packaging of 27 cents a pound. They give me a check for the hanging weight, which I give to stepmom. It's even easier than a trip to the grocery store!

Eileen, the only problem I have with the "flavor enhancer" is that you are paying $3.99 a pound or whatever for salt and water. Labels say "up to 10%". So, you buy 10 pounds of pork and you actually get 9 pounds of pork and a pound of salt and water for $3.99.

Annie

Geez Annie! You can get your beef C&W for $.27????
Ours is up to .45-.48. I'm pretty sure it won't be cost effective to send it to your butcher....... dang it!

There are people advertising .90 live weight as a huge sale right now! NOT! Maybe a little less, but not "Rock Bottom Price" as they say. I think they are taking advantage of people who don't understand the "Live Weight", "Hanging weight" and "CW Weight" thing. Irritates the bejeezes out of me!

It's pretty normal to see $2.00/Hanging here, plus C&W.
That makes for nearly $5.00/lb. beef. There are some "gourmet, organic" folks selling Rib Eye for up to $12.99 lb. OUCH!!!!

Thank goodness Ricky is eating well.....

Sue, another issue with all the "enhanced" meats that a co-worker told me about.....

She cannot eat any beef that isn't Hormone Free or it drastically increases her hot flashes and causes migraine headaches.
Who knows what else "they" are pumping us full of all to make a buck!

Deanna (climbing off the soapbox.....Next??)

Tofu is looking better and better...

Deanna,
Could you please enlighten as to the weights? I get the basic concept, but I really don't know how that transfers to reality. We used to buy a side of beef, and I never really knew the real price we paid compared to the store. It didn't really matter all that much, since it was so much better, but I did want to compare apples to apples, or I guess beef to beef?? Only problem was, since there were (most of the time) just the 2 of us, it seemed like beef was what's for dinner. Almost always.

At lunch today I was reminded of this discussion as I put my ham sandwich in the microwave to heat it and the ham started making popping sounds due to too much injected water.

I have had a boneless ham shrink by nearly half during the cooking.

My sister bought a bunch of pork tenderloins at Trader Joe's...fresh. Ingredients: Pork.

No brine, just pork. The texture was remarkably different than the Costco tenderloins...not fine and mushy, but more steak-like. There's no going back now.

Sue