Soup's on. (Brand-Name Rating).There's nothing like a gurgling Gurgling is a characteristic sound made by unstable two-phase fluid flow, for example, as liquid is poured from a bottle, or during gargling. pot of homemade home·made adj. 1. Made or prepared in the home: homemade pie. 2. Made by oneself. 3. Crudely or simply made. Adj. 1. soup to warm your bones when the brisk weather sets in. But sooner or later--when you're sick, tired, or just too busy to start from scratch--you may end up reaching for a can opener instead of a kettle. Companies that stock the soup shelves at your supermarket are only too happy to help (not just with cans, but with frozen pouches, cartons, and coated paper Coated paper is paper which has been coated by an inorganic compound to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight and surface gloss, smoothness or ink absorbency. Kaolinite is the compound most often used for coating papers used in commercial printing. cups). The trick is finding a soup that won't pack nearly half a day's worth of salt into a modest 150-calorie cup of liquid. To make your hunt easier, we gave "Best Bites" to prepared soups that have no more than one gram of saturated fat saturated fat, any solid fat that is an ester of glycerol and a saturated fatty acid. The molecules of a saturated fat have only single bonds between carbon atoms; if double bonds are present in the fatty acid portion of the molecule, the fat is said to be and 480 milligrams of sodium in a one-cup (eight-ounce) serving (or 600 mg if the soup comes in a single-serving cup that makes more than eight ounces). That's not low in salt--it's a quarter to a fifth of a day's worth--but it's roughly half of what you'd get in a typical Campbell's, Progresso, or Knorr soup. And, to make sure that our Best Bites offer more than just flavored water, we insisted that they have at least a minimal level of nutrients. Every food label has to list what percent of a day's worth of each of six "good" nutrients (vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, protein, and fiber) is in one serving. We gave each soup one point for every percent it racked up. For example, a soup with 25 percent of the daily value (DV) for calcium and 10 percent of the DV for fiber (and no iron, protein, or vitamins A or C) received 35 points. To earn a Best Bite, a serving of soup had to reach at least 50 points. That weeded out the least nutritious nutritious /nu·tri·tious/ (noo-trish´us) affording nourishment. nu·tri·tious adj. Providing nourishment; nourishing. nutritious affording nourishment. entries, including just about every broth broth liquid media for culturing microorganisms. cooked meat broth a medium useful for culturing anaerobic bacteria. enrichment broth one modified to permit growth by selected bacteria. and many chicken noodles noo·dle 1 n. A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water. [German Nudel. and cream of whatevers. (For those soups, just look for brands with the least sodium. Even Campbell's makes a Low Sodium Chicken Broth Noun 1. chicken broth - a stock made with chicken chicken stock broth, stock - liquid in which meat and vegetables are simmered; used as a basis for e.g. soups or sauces; "she made gravy with a base of beef stock" , with 140 mg per cup.) Here are the soups that met our criteria without making our taste buds taste buds taste npl → Geschmacksknospen pl cry "Uncle!" MULTI-SERVING SOUPS The easiest way to narrow down your search for soups that aren't salt-laden is to look for the word "healthy" on the label. The government won't allow names like Healthy Choice, Healthy Request, or Health Valley on soups that have more than 480 milligrams of sodium in a one-cup serving. So every soup in those three lines was low enough in sodium for a Best Bite. A few--like Campbell's Condensed con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. Healthy Request Cream of Broccoli broccoli (brŏk`əlē) [Ital.,=sprouts], variety of cabbage grown for the edible immature flower panicles. It is the same variety (Brassica oleracea botrytis) as the cauliflower and is similarly cultivated. or Cream of Celery--fell short in the nutrient nutrient /nu·tri·ent/ (noo´tre-int) 1. nourishing; providing nutrition. 2. a food or other substance that provides energy or building material for the survival and growth of a living organism. department, though. (Memo to Campbell's: A cream of celery celery, biennial plant (Apium graveolens) of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), of wide distribution in the wild state throughout the north temperate Old World and much cultivated also in America. with few nutrients we can understand. But a cream of broccoli?) Among our favorites from the "healthy" lines: Healthy Choice Vegetable Beef, Garden Vegetable, and Split Pea split pea Noun a pea dried and split and used in soups or as a vegetable and Ham. Campbell's Healthy Request soups are also a good bet, especially the "Hearty heart·y adj. heart·i·er, heart·i·est 1. Expressed warmly, exuberantly, and unrestrainedly: a hearty welcome. 2. " ones, which contain more food than some of the company's condensed soups. And Health Valley works wonders with the 250-or-so milligrams of sodium in its Fat Free line, especially the Minestrone, 14 Garden Vegetable, and (out-of-this-world) 5 Bean Vegetable. Its Fat Free Vegetable Barley barley, annual cereal plant (Hordeum vulgare and sometimes other species) of the family Gramineae (grass family), cultivated by humans probably as early as any cereal. and 99% Fat Free Chicken Noodle didn't taste so wonderful. Some small companies also got Best Bites, but were less reliable tastewise. Pritikin's seasonings (or lack thereof) left us cold. Tabatchnick's Barley & Mushroom mushroom, type of basidium fungus characterized by spore-bearing gills on the underside of the umbrella- or cone-shaped cap. The name toadstool is popularly reserved for inedible or poisonous mushrooms, but this classification has no scientific basis. was tasteless taste·less adj. 1. Lacking flavor; insipid. 2. Not having or showing good taste. taste  less·ly adv. , while its Split
Pea was scrumptious. Hain went from good-tasting (Mushroom Barley) to
anything but (Vegetarian Lentil lentil, leguminous Old World annual plant (Lens culinaris) with whitish or pale blue flowers. Its pods contain two greenish-brown or dark-colored seeds, also called lentils, which when fully ripe are ground into meal or used in soups and stews. ). ShariAnn's Spicy Green Lentil
gives lentil soup Noun 1. lentil soup - made of stock and lentils with onions carrots and celerysoup - liquid food especially of meat or fish or vegetable stock often containing pieces of solid food a new twist, but her Indian Black Bean black bean see castanospermum australe, erythrophleumchlorostachys. & Rice is far too heavy on the cloves cloves symbolic of stateliness. [Plant Symbolism and Folklore: Jobes, 350] See : Dignity . And comments on Amy's No Chicken Noodle went from "tastes like gravy" to "dead ringer for real chicken soup chicken soup Chicken broth Folk medicine Jewish penicillin A fowl broth with a long tradition as a home remedy for URIs, which may be a nasal decongestant, inhibit growth of pneumococci in vitro, and stimulate immune responsiveness in WBCs Mainstream medicine A ." Some lines were more consistent. Imagine's cartons of organic soups--like Creamy Broccoli or Creamy Butternut butternut: see walnut. butternut Deciduous nut-producing tree (Juglans cinerea) of the walnut family, native to eastern North America. A mature tree has gray, deeply furrowed bark. Squash--were dependably delish. SINGLE-SERVING SOUPS What better way to stir up a hot lunch when you're stuck at the office with only hot water to cook with? Just watch which brand you choose. Fantastic knows how to make a Country Lentil, Jumpin' Black Bean, Minestrone, and Split Pea. But its Creamy Asparagus asparagus, perennial garden vegetable (Asparagus officinalis) of the family Liliaceae (lily family), native to the E Mediterranean area and now naturalized over much of the world. and Cha-Cha Chili (language) CHILI - D.L. Abt. A language for systems programming, based on ALGOL 60 with extensions for structures and type declarations. ["CHILI, An Algorithmic Language for Systems Programming", CHI-1014, Chi Corp, Sep 1975] appealed to some taste buds more than others. Likewise, Dr. McDougall wowed us with his Tortilla Soup and Split Pea with Barley. (His Minestrone and Ramen ra·men n. 1. A Japanese dish of noodles in broth, often garnished with small pieces of meat and vegetables. 2. A thin white noodle served in this dish. Noodles weren't as popular, though ramen fans should give the doc's a try, given the sky-high levels of sodium and saturated fat in large brands like Nissin and Maruchan.) Other winners: Kettle Cuisine's Carrot Ginger was spectacular ... and its homemade richness came through whether we ate it hot or cold. Nile Spice makes a dynamite dynamite, explosive made from nitroglycerin and an inert, porous filler such as wood pulp, sawdust, kieselguhr, or some other absorbent material. The proportions vary in different kinds of dynamite; often ammonium nitrate or sodium nitrate is added. Split Pea, and its Red Beans Red bean can mean:
Health Valley's line has no knock-outs, but it has no losers either. Overall, a disappointing soup-in-a-cup still beats a lousy lous·y adj. lous·i·er, lous·i·est 1. Infested with lice. 2. Extremely contemptible; nasty: a lousy trick. 3. soup-in-a-can. The only exception: Teapot Soups. The company hasn't quite gotten the hang of making instant soups Instant soups are a kind of soup. They are produced on an industrial scale. Later they are treated in different ways to preserve them. Usually they are dried, canned, or treated by freezing. Especially instant noodles are often prepared that way. . Just don't assume that one cup is one serving. Those just-add-boiling-water cups can make anywhere from six ounces of soup (Lipton) to 15 ounces (Fantastic Big Soup Noodle Bowls, Health Valley, and a few other brands). Since most labels list calories, sodium, etc., for eight ounces, you'll have to double the numbers if you eat the whole cup of the biggies. That's what we've done in our chart. The information for this article was compiled by Tamar Genger. In the Soup To earn a Best Bite, an eight-ounce serving of soup could have no more than 480 milligrams of sodium (600 mg for single-serving soups that make more than eight ounces). It also had to have at least 50 percent of a day's worth of any combination of vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, protein, and fiber. Within each category, soups are ranked from least to most sodium, then most to least fiber, then least to most calories.
Sodium Fiber
Multi-Serving Soups (1 cup) Calories (mg) (grams)
[check][check] Health Valley
Organic No Salt (1) 90 40 4
[check][check] Tabatchnick
No Salt (1) 140 60 6
[check][check] Health Valley
Fat Free (1) 100 250 6
[check][check] Pritikin (1) 110 290 4
[check][check] Tabatchnick
Barley Mushroom, Cabbage,
Creamed Spinach, Lentil,
Minestrone, Split Pea,
Tomato Rice, Vegetable,
Vegetarian Chili, or Yankee
Bean (2) 120 320 6
[check][check] Health Valley
Organic (1) 90 330 4
[check][check] Woodstock
Organics Creamy Potato 100 330 3
[check][check] Taste
Adventure Minestrone, Navy
Bean, or Sweet Corn Chowder (2) 160 360 7
[check][check] Campbell's
Healthy Request Ready to Serve,
except New England Clam
Chowder (1) 120 360 3
Campbell's
Healthy Request Ready to Serve
New England Clam Chowder 110 360 2
[check][check] Imagine Creamy
Broccoli or Creamy Butternut
Squash (2) 100 370 2
[check][check] Westbrae Fat
Free Santa Fe Vegetable 160 380 8
Imagine Creamy Portobello
Mushroom, Creamy Potato Leek,
Creamy Sweet Corn, or Creamy
Tomato (2) 90 390 2
[check][check] Health Valley
99% Fat Free Chicken Noodle or
Chicken Rice (2) 130 390 2
[check][check] ShariAnn's Cream
of Tomato, Great Plains Split
Pea, Indian Black Bean & Rice,
Spicy French Green Lentil,
Spicy Mexican Bean, Tomato
with Red Bell Pepper, or Tomato
with Roasted Garlic (2) 120 410 3
[check][check] Progresso 99%
Fat Free Lentil 130 440 6
[check][check] Campbell's
Condensed Healthy Request,
except Chicken Noodle or Cream
soups (1) 90 440 3
Campbell's Condensed Healthy
Request Chicken Noodle or Cream
soups (2) 70 440 1
[check][check] Healthy Choice
Bean and Ham, Chicken Corn
Chowder, Chicken Pasta, Country
Vegetable, Creamy Potato & Ham,
Garden Vegetable, Hearty
Chicken, Hearty Chili Beef,
Mediterranean Bean with Pasta,
Minestrone, Old Fashioned
Chicken Noodle, Roasted Chicken
with Garlic, Split Pea and Ham,
or Vegetable Beef (2) 130 480 4
[check][check] Hain (1) 100 480 3
Healthy Choice Baked Potato,
Chicken with Rice, Chunky Beef
and Potato, Classic Italian
Bean and Pasta, Creamy Tomato,
Fiesta Chicken, New England
Clam Chowder, Turkey with White
and Wild Rice, Vegetable Clam,
or Zesty Gumbo (2) 100 480 3
[check][check] Amy's No Chicken
noodle 90 480 2
Taste Adventure Black Bean,
Curry Lentil, Golden Pea, or
Split Pea (2) 220 540 12
Pacific Creamy (1) * 120 540 1
ShariAnn's Italian White Bean,
Minestrone, Potato and Cheddar,
Vegetable Barley, or Vegetarian
French Onion (2) * 110 570 2
Amy's, except No Chicken
Noodle (1) * 100 590 4
Woodstock Organics, except
Creamy Potato (1) 130 620 4
Fantastic (1) * 120 660 3
Lipton Soup Secrets (1) 80 690 0
Nissin Top Ramen (1) (#) 190 770 1
Campbell's Simply Home (1) * 110 790 2
Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup (1) (#) 190 790 1
Wyler's Soup Starter Soup Mix (1) 100 820 3
Knorr Savory Soups (1) * 100 820 1
Campbell's Ready to Serve
Classics (1) * 110 840 3
Campbell's Select, except New
England Clam Chowder (1) * 120 840 3
Campbell's Condensed 98% Fat
Free (1) 70 840 1
Knorr Naturals Hearty Soups (1) 100 840 1
Campbell's Condensed
Classics (1) * 90 860 2
Campbell's Select New England
Clam Chowder # 200 870 2
Progresso, except 99% Fat Free
Lentill (1) * 110 880 2
Campbell's Condensed Special
Selectionsl (1) * 90 890 2
Campbell's Condensed Fun
Favorites (1) 80 890 1
Mrs. Grass Soup Mix (1) 50 890 0
Campbell's Chunky (1) * 150 900 3
Pepperidge Farm Lobster Bisque
or Vichyssoise (2) (#) 140 1,020 0
Pepperidge Farm, except Lobster
Bisque or Vichyssoise (1) * 100 1,050 2
Single-Serving Soups
(1 container--about 1 cup unless
noted)
[check][check] Kettle Cuisine
Carrot Ginger 120 230 3
Teapot Soups Potato Leek 130 350 1
Thai Kitchen Rice Noodle Bowl (1) 180 400 0
[check][check] Teapot Soups,
except Potato Leek (1) 180 400 0
[check][check] Dr. McDougall's (1) 180 400 7
[check][check] The Spice Hunter 170 480 4
Black Bean, Navy Bean, Split Pea,
or Szechwan Noodle (2) 170 490 8
[check][check] Fantastic, except
Creamy Broccoli Cheddar, Creamy
Garlic Mushroom, Creamy Potato
Leek, or Vegetable Miso Ramen
Noodles (1) 190 510 8
[check][check] Kettle Cuisine
Gazpacho 110 510 2
Lipton Cup-a-Soup (1) 60 530 0
Fantastic Vegetable Miso Ramen
Noodles 130 540 2
[check][check] Health Valley
(2 cups) (1) 220 550 6
Fantastic Creamy Broccoli Cheddar,
Creamy Garlic Mushroom, or Creamy
Potato Leek (2) * 150 550 2
[check][check] Nile Spice Black
Bean, Gazpacho, Lentil,
Minestrone, Red Beans & Rice,
Split Pea, or Tomato Herb (2) 150 580 7
The Spice Hunter Bowl Size
(2 cups) (1) * 190 780 4
Knorr TasteBreaks (1) 160 940 3
Campbell's Soup to Go (1) 130 960 2
Campbell's Soup at Hand (1) * 140 970 3
Birds Eye Hearty Spoonfuls (1) * 190 1,130 4
Nissin Cup Noodles (2 cups) (1) (#) 300 1,140 2
Fantastic Big Soup Noodle
Bowls (1) 220 1,230 2
Maruchan Instant Lunch
(2 cups) (1) (#) 290 1,310 2
[check][check] Best Bite.
(1) Average of the entire line (excluding
broths).
(2) Average of the soups listed.
* Some soups in the line
have more than 1 gram of saturated fat.
(#) Contains 3 or more grams
of saturated fat.
Notes: Some large line averages may not include every soup in the
line. Numbers don't include milk for soups that call for it (using
fat-free milk shouldn't change the numbers appreciably).
The use of information from this article for commercial purposes is
strictly prohibited without written permission from CSPI.
Source: Manufacturers.
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