I received a comment to the Chicken Stock post a couple weeks ago, with a question about bullion cubes.  Chicken and vegetable broths are chock full of sodium, but what about those little cubes of flavor that dissolve into hot water to make soup?  Those must be better, right?  After all, they are so small.  Well, the short answer is no.  The censored, passionate answer is…well, let’s leave that one to the imagination.

After I received that comment I went over to the market to take a look at those little savory cubes I had used in a pinch so many times before.  I expected to find a very benign ingredient label and nutrition information.  Boy was I wrong.   When I turned the box around and saw what was inside, an expletive I’d rather not repeat escaped my lips, earning me a  sideways glance from the store employee next to me.  If you recall from two weeks ago, the sodium in one cup of chicken stock ranged from 570mg to 860mg.  Those numbers were appalling since the American Heart Association recommends no more than 1500mg sodium per day.  But get this, one-half of one of those little bullion cubes contains…ready for this….1240mg sodium!  No, that’s not a typo.  1240mg of sodium in one-half of a chicken “flavored” bullion cube. And if that wasn’t enough, then I looked at the ingredient label.

As I take this journey with Out of the Box Food, I am learning to expect artificial colors in many of the processed foods on the shelf.  Of course bright blue yogurts and colorful candy they pass of as “fruit” are dead giveaways.  But I have also discovered that less obvious foods like packaged macaroni and cheese and cereals also contain these dangerous artificial colors.  But would you expect to feed your family artificial colors in a “wholesome” bowl of soup?  Well, the bullion cubes I found contain yellow 5 and 6.  Somehow they’ve also crammed 21 other ingredients into those tiny cubes including MSG, and several varieties of hydrogenated oil.  Oh, and did I mention the Chicken Flavor bullion cube contains beef fat?

Makes throwing those old veggies and leftover chicken in a pot seem even more worthwhile, huh?  Seriously, try it.  Even if you think you don’t have time.  Try it once.  When you get home from work, throw the leftovers in a pot with some water, and simmer (untouched) until bedtime.  Freeze it and you’ll never have to touch these cubes of chemically enhanced sodium and fat again. Alright, enough of the rant.  Here’s what’s in the bullion cube:

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THE COMPARISON: Knorr Bullion Cubes vs. Out of the Box Leftovers Chicken Stock and Clean-Out-The Fridge Vegetable Broth

(All ingredients followed by an * can be referenced at www.wikipedia.org by clicking on the ingredient.  Please feel free to reference the ingredients on other reputable sites for further information.)

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Knorr Chicken Flavored Bullion

1/2 Cube (1 C prepared) = 1240 mg sodium

Ingredients:

• salt
• palm oil
• monosodium glutamate* (MSG)
• hydrolyzed corn protein*
• hydrogenated beef fat*
• hydrogenated soybean oil*
• sugar
• cooked chicken meat
• yeast extract*
• corn starch
• chicken fat
• maltodextrin*
• natural flavor*
• dehydrated parsley flakes
• disodium inosinate*
• citric acid*
• caramel color*
• whey (milk)
• sodium caseinate (milk)
• yellow 5*
• annato* (for color)
• yellow 6*

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Knorr Vegetarian Vegetable Bullion

1/2 Cube (1 C prepared) = 840 mg sodium

Ingredients:

• salt
• palm oil
• monosodium glutimate* (MSG)
• autolyzed yeast extract*
• sugar
• onion powder
• corn starch
• water
• dehydrated cabbage
• dehydrated carrots
• celery seed
• caramel color
• disodium inosinate*
• dehydrated parsley
• spices
• garlic powder
• citric acid
• turmeric (for color)
• partially hydrogenated soybean oil*
• TBHQ* (used to protect quality) – See also: Trick-Or-Treat for more information on TBHQ
  

**All listed product ingredients are taken from product’s package label.  Though Out of the Box Food makes every effort to provide complete ingredient information, please check the package for the most current information.

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Please skip the bull(ion).  It’s so easy to throw some leftovers in a pot, top with water and let simmer.  You’ll have fresh chicken and vegetable broth with minimal effort and little to no sodium.  Here are those recipes again.

“Leftovers” Chicken Stock

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Clean-Out-The-Fridge Vegetable Broth

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Alright, enough about soup.  For now.  Next week will tackle turkey…Deli Turkey that is.  Until next week…