Surprising HFCS food of the week

I hate to admit this, but one of my all time favorite comfort foods is Campbells Condensed Tomato Soup with some canned peas and corn and maybe some onion and saltine cracker mixed in. It's one of those meals that my mom would make me as a child (though she was as likely to use whatever leftover vegetable was in the fridge) that I tend to turn to on cold winter days for a quick meal or when I'm feeling a little low.


Well, no more. Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup is our surprising HFCS-containing food of the week. Sigh. Besides being loaded with salt, many of the soups in the Campbells line contain HFCS. Not all, mind you, but many of them.

All is not lost, though! Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup might contain HFCS, but there are many tomato soups that do not contain HFCS - even in the Campbell's brand. For example, Campbell's Select Harvest Garden Recipes Harvest Tomato with Basil (whew! That's a mouthful!) is HFCS free. Amy's Cream of Tomato Soup is also HFCS free (as are all of Amy's soups).

Sadly, even the healthier canned soups are generally still loaded with sodium. The Campbell's Select Harvest tomato soup mentioned above has 20% of the recommended daily value of sodium in half a can of soup! And Amy's is even worse with 29% of the RDV of sodium in half a can of soup. Ouch! If you have any gumption, you're better off making a big batch of soup and freezing some for later. (Look for soup recipes here later this fall and winter.) It's likely to be better for you and taste better too.

Still, if you're in need of a quick soup fix and are set on buying a can of soup, watch the ingredients list! Lots of soups out there contain HFCS. Fortunately, there are also lots of HFCS-free soup options too if you're willing to search just a little bit.