The EU has saved bacon!

mmmn a sexy photo of bacon...

After many years of utterly ridiculous and awful legislation directed towards the UK from the dreadful European Union we have finally something small to rejoice about. The EU have tabled legislation to ensure that bacon that is sold to consumers can consist of no more than 5% water before it has to be labelled as “bacon with water”. Currently almost all bacon being sold in our supermarkets in the UK has closer to 10% added water. This water makes the bacon artificially bigger and allows it to be stretched longer, not to mention when you try and fry it you can see it boil in your frying pan in water.

Supermarkets and retailers are of course against this as they have been adding water to all meats forever to increase the size and to increase their margins by selling inferior meat to consumers. They are arguing that British consumers are used to high water content in their bacon and will not enjoy purer, stronger tasting bacon. They even had the stupidity to say that the bacon without all the extra water in it will mean bacon will be drier and less succulent… isn’t that what having fat on bacon is all about? Not water.

Bacon purists and bacon producers who sell their products from their own farms are celebrating for obvious reasons – and as a confessed foodie, so am I. I look forward to the measures making chicken and beef less watery although I admit I buy much of my meat from a butcher and support locally sourced produce. There are some amazing food producers in this country, it’s such a pity the supermarkets and unscrupulous stores keep selling substandard food and pass it off as top quality.

So that means the EU has done one good thing to date… I won’t hold my breath for the next one!