A month or so ago, an earnest PR woman who works for Crier Communications in Los Angeles offered to send me samples of "Dr. McDougall's Right Foods Ready-to-Serve Vegan Soups," which she described as "a perfect BPA free alternative to canned soups." Manufacgtured and distributed by an outfit that promotes "natural" foods, Dr. McDougall's soups come in eight flavors of easy-open boxes and "are ideal for making tasty, nutritious lunches at work or quick, healthy family meals at home."
How could I turn down a pitch like that?
I've now eaten them all, and tasty they were. (Except the low-sodium versions, which I found rather sour; so I added salt.) Then again, after I read the ingredients, I wasn't so sure.
Filtered water, vegetables (tomatoes, onion, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, celery, bavvage, peas, green beans garlic), red kidney beans, barley, pasta (durum wheat semolina flour) natural flavors (non animal source), potato starch, yeast extract, spices, basil, organic evaporated cane juice, sea salt, marjoram.
Each box (suggested retail price $3.19) is supposed to contain two 8-ounce servings, so I guess I doubled up, or doubled down, whatever. An even 200 calories per box, almost 1,000 mg sodium, 8 grams of dietary fiber, 6 grams of protein. It's the yeast extract that gets me every time, though. It's common in processed foods as a flavor enhancer, along with every other variation of glutamate.
My very favorite soup: the vegan lentil. To which I added half a sliced kielbasa. Mmmm, sweet!
Leave a comment