Is Store Bought Soup Healthy?

Often as the temperatures get colder, the days grow shorter or perhaps you find yourself a little under the weather; people look to eating soup as a warm comfort. While it is no contest that homemade soups are better, many do not have the time or skill to cook a delicious crock of their own. With the convenience of store bought soup, many find themselves perusing the aisle at their local grocery store to grab cans of soup to bring home. But is the soup healthy? Can you really rely on canned soups as being healthy for you?

Is Soup Healthy?

Some may be surprised to learn that in a Nutrition Action Health Letter conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, it found that many store bought soups were not healthy soups for consumers to eat. In fact, most soups they tested were filled with mainly salt and water and not much else. Some of the canned soup that people would have assumed was healthy soup often had 800 mg or more sodium content in a small serving of one cup. That amounts to one third of your daily sodium value which is beyond terrible considering soups also have a low calorie content totaling only twenty percent of your day’s worth. While this should concern consumers who depend on store bought soup, be rest assured that there are healthy soups you can buy, you just need to be more aware of what you’re purchasing. It may seem like common sense but reading the nutrition labels of canned soups is the only way you can know for sure if what you’re eating is good for you or not. Healthy soups should be low sodium, preferably below 480 mg per serving. So is the soup healthy for you?

The Truth About Low Sodium Soup

As the study stated, healthy soups are low sodium soups with nothing higher than 480 mg sodium content for each single serving. Surprisingly what many people do not know is the truth about healthy soup and low sodium soup is that in 1994 the FDA decided that only foods with less than 480 mg sodium per serving could use the label “healthy” on their products. So in fact, you can trust soups labeled “healthy” on the can such as “Healthy Choice” and “Campbell’s Healthy Request” for instance, because of this ruling by the FDA. If anything you can rely on the “healthy”for piece of mind that it is a low sodium soup with only twenty percent or less of your daily value. Many people often find that some low sodium soups may be healthy for you but often they lack in flavor. Of course the lower amount of salt will result in less tastier soups compared to the soups with higher sodium content. But not all low sodium and healthy soups are tasteless; many of the canned soups with low salt content are tasty due to the flavors provided by the actual ingredients within the soup.

Healthy Soup in a Can

When are you searching for a healthy soup that is low sodium also consider the ingredients and types of soup before purchasing a can. Stick to soups that are mainly bean based such as lentil or split pea soups. Bean soups pack a lot of fiber, protein, iron, and vitamins A and C. Leave the cream based soups on the shelf. Typically soups that are cream based have more fat and carbohydrates rather than nutrition making it a less than healthy soup.

So the next time you’re in the store and trying to decide, “Is this soup healthy?” Remember to check the nutrition label, look for the word “healthy” and just say no to cream based soups. Store bought soups do have healthy options but it’s up to the consumer to seek these healthy soups out and make the choice of selecting low sodium soups.

Sources:

Nutrition Action Health Letter – Soups: The Middle Ground
Good Housekeeping: Shop for the Healthiest Soup