Nutrition Faceoff: Vegetable Broth

Title: Master of Public Health

Alumni: University of California, Berkeley

Last Updated on: 09/27/2018

January brings new year’s resolutions – and leads many of us to do a pantry cleanse to start the year off right. One of the most common pantry staples is canned or tetra-pack broth. While it’s nice to be able to make your own broths or soup bases from scratch, the reality is many of us resort to pre-made broths or soup mixes to help shorten preparation time in the kitchen. Here we look at two broth products from two companies that position themselves as producing all-natural products.

Table of Contents

Nutrition Faceoff: Vegetable Broths

	Pacific Foods Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth	McCormick Gourmet Collection Kitchen Basics Unsalted Vegetable Stock
Serving Size	1 cup	1 cup
Calories	15 kcal	20 kcal
Total Fat	0 g	0 g
Protein	0 g	2 g
Total Carbohydrates	3 g	4 g
Sugar	2 g	3 g
Sodium	140 mg	240 mg
Ingredients	Water, carrots, tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic, leeks, sea salt, bay leaves, parsley, thyme* *Organic	Vegetable stocks (onion, celery, carrot, mushroom, red pepper), tomato paste.

Nutrition Faceoff: Vegetable Broths – Dietitian’s Take

Compared to some other pre-made broths on the market, these two products have fairly simple ingredient lists. We are curious, though, why the McCormick’s Kitchen Basics product contains more sodium per serving even though salt isn’t explicitly stated in the ingredient list; especially since the product is marked as “unsalted”. This suggests that the “vegetable stocks” listed on the ingredient list may be pre-made stock (with sodium) instead of actual vegetables being used to make this specific stock. Another possibility is that the sodium may be in the pre-made tomato paste.

Our Pick: Pacific Foods Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Broth

Just like how you would make your stock at home, vegetable-based broth should basically be water that has been flavored with vegetables and herbs, and that is what the Pacific Foods product is. The organic certification also provides helpful reassurance that the vegetables and herbs that go into making the broth are organic.

Sofia Layarda, MPH

Alumni: University of California, Berkeley – Sofia believes in bringing back fun and pleasure into everyday eating. She loves cooking, and is constantly experimenting with ingredients, creating recipes and trying them out on family and friends. Her latest interest lies in finding realistic and practical ways of environmentally-friendly food/eating habits.

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