[malfist]

You're not charged for the absorbent pad anymore than you're charged for the packaging. You can weigh the meat when you get home to verify yourself

[unsnap_biceps]

The pad, no, but you do pay for the liquid that the pad soaks up from the overly hydrated meat. The cheaper chicken in my area is pumped full of salt water and is weighed as it's getting packed, but the pad absorbs a bunch of that water to keep the chicken from looking like it's sitting in a puddle.