What Does "Up to 5% Retained Water" Mean on a Trader Joe's Label?
“Up to 5% Retained Water” states the maximum percentage of water chicken may retain from processing, including washing and chilling.
It is not a measurement of the water in your particular package, and it does not name a wash chemical or chilling method. Under 9 CFR 441.10(b), the statement appears in prominent letters next to the product name or elsewhere on the label’s principal display panel. The rule also requires evidence that retained water is an unavoidable consequence of meeting food-safety requirements and a written data-collection protocol available to FSIS. Read the percentage as a ceiling for retained processing water. The wording discussed in Webb’s lawsuit covers the products in that case, not every current Trader Joe’s chicken label.
This explains the label and a dated lawsuit. It does not measure a current package, establish a treatment or report the plaintiff’s testing claims as adjudicated facts.
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Read the label word by word
“Up to” means a maximum, not a promise that every package contains exactly 5%.
“Retained Water” means processing water remaining in the chicken after washing and chilling.
The statement belongs in prominent letters next to the product name or elsewhere on the principal display panel. The establishment must keep its written data-collection protocol on file and available to FSIS.
What happened in the Webb lawsuit?
Webb challenged Trader Joe’s All Natural boneless breasts, thighs and wings bearing “up to 5% retained water” labels. She alleged laboratory results averaging 9%; her complaint also alleged some samples reached 16%. These are plaintiff-side claims, not court findings about the correct water content.
On June 4, 2021, the Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal with prejudice under the Poultry Products Inspection Act’s preemption provision, 21 U.S.C. § 467e. The opinion treated FSIS’s opportunity to review Trader Joe’s protocol, followed by no objection or required changes, as federal approval. The ruling resolved the preemption issue; it did not decide which retained-water figure was correct.
Webb v. Trader Joe’s, 999 F.3d 1196, Ninth Circuit, June 4, 2021
Webb’s 2019 complaint, Exhibit 1 in the removal filing (allegations)
What the line does not tell you
A retained-water percentage identifies neither the wash chemical nor the chilling method. Those require separate evidence for the product.
Sources
Related questions
Does “up to 5%” mean exactly 5% in my package?
No. It states a maximum retained-water percentage, not an individual package measurement.
Did the Webb court decide that Trader Joe’s chicken contained 9% or 16% water?
No. Those were plaintiff-side testing claims. The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal on federal-preemption grounds rather than deciding which retained-water figure was correct.