The Christmas ham scam and how to avoid it
For many Australian families the Christmas ham takes pride of place on the festive table.
But Seven News can reveal that some hams can contain up to 50 per cent water and chemicals, pumped in to inflate the price.
It's the Christmas ham scam proving that some hams can be cheap and nasty.
Award-winning pork experts Richard Deignan and Ron Stapleton say some hams, mainly imported boneless hams, contain extra water to bump up weight and increase the retail price.
"There's a lot of water in this packaging and you're paying for it," Richard Deignan said of some imported products.
Mr Deignan says ham must be cured in brine for 48 hours to give good colour, texture and moisture.
A tasty, moist ham needs to retain around 10 per cent of that brine.
But some hams are injected with up to 50 per cent brine, with gums and starches to hold it in.
Therefore, with a half leg of ham you could be paying $15 to $20 - just for water.
Water-logged ham doesn't last long in the fridge and has a "mushy, soft, spongy feel," Ron Stapleton said.
"If you're going to pay $6 a kilo for a ham, then you expect it not to be of good quality," Mr Deignan said.
"The shape, the colour of the ham is all important.
"Lovely deep smoke colour, and with a cut ham, beautiful pink firm colour."
Most Australian hams are bone-in and Richard Deignan says they are among the best hams in the world.
The experts say you can avoid the watery ham scam by avoiding imported ham, doing the squeeze test and looking for the pink PorkMark label, which is an indicator of good quality.
