Sodium is the headline for canned chicken soup at 186 mg per 100 g. The PURE study (O'Donnell et al., NEJM 2014, n=101,945) placed optimal sodium at 3–5 g/day. A 245 g bowl can hit a quarter of that range alone — track the salt alongside the calories.
How should I track Chicken Noodle Soup, reduced sodium, canned?
Prepared foods like Chicken Noodle Soup, reduced sodium, canned can be tricky to track because the actual serving you get often differs from the label. Restaurant and deli portions are typically 30–50% larger than the stated serving size. A meta-analysis of dietary reporting (Wehling & Lusher, Am J Clin Nutr 2021) found that people underreport calorie intake by 25–30% on average — and prepared meals are a major contributor. The safest approach: weigh your actual portion as served. Also note that homemade and store-bought versions of the same dish can differ significantly in calories due to cooking methods and ingredients used.