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How to choose the healthiest broth brick in the supermarket
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The order of the ingredients on the list and the amount of salt are the keys to recognizing the best product
Few things more comforting than a good homemade broth. During the coldest days, having a hot soup or consommé gives us that “warmth on the inside” that we were looking for. But of course, there is not always time to start preparing broth, and after a long day, we may be tempted to throw in one of those bricks de hot that, they are not the same, but we also like them.
The problem is that we are dealing with a processed product, and we already know that these are not always good for our diet. Therefore, it is essential learn to “read” the labels on the broth, with the aim of bringing the best home. For this, Beatriz Robles, dietician-nutritionist and food technologist comments
that to begin with, it is essential to look at the nutritional values of the product and how much salt it has. ‘They will generally have about 0,7-0,8 g of salt per 100 ml. If they exceed this amount, we would be looking at a product with a lot of salt, “he says.
How much salt does a broth have?
Adds the nutritionist Mireia Cabrera, dietician-nutritionist at the Júlia Farré Center in Barcelona, that if we take into account a serving of broth, which is about 250 ml, it will have between 1,5 and 2 grams of salt. «With these concentrations practically already we cover half of the daily salt recommendations. We can look for options that are reduced in salt, or we can dilute the commercial broth with a little water if we don’t want it to be so salty, “he says.
On the other hand, Beatriz Robles puts the focus on the list of ingredients. Explain that, «a good clue» to know the quality of the broth that we are going to buy is check if the listed ingredients are recognizable to us: “We must see if they are the ones we would make a broth with ourselves: meat, vegetables, fish, shellfish, virgin olive oil …”. He warns then that if we begin to see ingredients that we would not use in our kitchen (meat extract, colorings, flavor enhancers …), it is best to opt for another broth.
The order of the ingredients does alter the product
Regarding whether there is an ingredient that we should always avoid in these types of products, the food technologist says that we should not obsess over it, because there is no avoiding an ingredient because it is dangerous, but because it is iIndicative that the broth is of poorer quality. “In the end, if you have these ingredients, the broth is going to look less like what we would make,” he says.
One question that may arise is, in chicken and meat broths, what should be the main ingredient: vegetables or meat? Mireia Cabrera solves it, noting in the first place that, in general, “the concentration of meat or vegetables that may remain in a broth is low, taking into account that the first ingredient is always water.” Explain what the base of the broth should be vegetables therefore, ideally, these should be first on the ingredient list.
Soups and bouillon cubes
Beyond bricks bricks, we find two other “instant” options to prepare soups: bouillon tablets and envelope soups. Beatriz Robles assures that both possibilities are worse than bricks. “The bouillon tablets are usually basically salt with flavor enhancers, poor quality fats (palm), starch, sugars … and with a ridiculous proportion of the ingredient we are interested in,” he says and goes on to explain that, in envelope soups “It is more or less the same.”
Finally, Mireia Cabrera explains that there is no better broth than another, if we talk about chicken, meat, vegetables or fish. “As long as it has healthy ingredients and does not contain an excessive concentration of salt, it is quite indifferent,” he says. Beatriz Robles urges us to choose, as long as it has good ingredients, the one that we like the most for its flavor. To finish, Mireia Cabrera leaves a recommendation: «You not only have to think about the broth, but with what we accompany it. For example, it is better to choose a whole wheat pasta instead of white.