About Our Soups

Traditional soups are just too salty. That much sodium is plain unnecessary, is certainly not good for you and hides the flavors of the soup (ummmm, that might be their point?). We think differently.

You do need some salt to bring out all the flavors of a great soup. So we chose a special, lower sodium, natural sea salt to complement our flavors. The result? Great taste and remarkably low sodium per serving: as low as 240mg (our Chicken Corn Chowder) and no higher than 370mg (our New England Clam Chowder).

One of the many things that sets New England Country Soup apart is our use of rice starch, not corn starch, to add body and a smooth texture to our soups. Rice starch helps us give you broths that are lighter and cleaner, enabling all of our wonderful, natural flavors to be fully savored by your palate.

And rice starch is easily digested and completely hypoallergenic which explains why rice starch is so widely used in baby food.

Yes, it is for babies but it also makes for a much better soup for you!

Our pouches are easy to prepare, are safe for the environment, and have an excellent shelf life. This cutting-edge technology of shelf-stable, microwaveable pouches was first perfected in Europe and Japan, and then brought to the US. But we were skeptical: could these pouches be safe in the microwave?

Yes. Safe. Very safe!

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tests and certifies the safety of food packages. Our pouches, of course, passed the FDA's tests with "flying colors". The FDA also publishes guidelines to help you prepare your food in the best possible method. Check out http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2002/602_plastic.html for more information on microwavable pouches, plastic containers and helpful guidelines for food preparation.

The FDA is not the only US authority to weigh in on the safety of microwave cooking in certain plastic packages and containers. The FDA findings were confirmed by a Mayo Clinic report: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-and-nutrition/AN00873. A separate report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on the issue of dioxins found, since plastics do not contain dioxins, dioxins cannot be released into foods cooking in the microwave; see http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/articles/halden_plastics.html for more information.

In addition to these US experts, we looked to Europe, where the packages had been created, for more assurance. We reviewed the European Food Safety Agency ("EFSA") of the European Union ("EU") packaging guidelines (http://www.efsa.europa.eu). The guidelines "across the pond" are as stringent, if not more stringent, than our FDA guidelines. Again, these pouches meet or exceed all EU standards, the "essential requirements" of which are: (1) "source reduction" (i.e., reduce packaging waste... see below), (2) "minimum presence of hazardous substances" and (3) "recovery, reuse and recycling". The same is true for the Japanese food packaging safety standards; see the Food Safety Commission of Japan for additional information (http://www.fsc.go.jp/english/index.html).

Light, Tough and Energy Efficient 

Empty, our pouch weighs 0.3 ounces versus Campbell's or Progresso's plastic microwaveable bowls, which weigh 1.65 ounces or more than 4 times the weight of our pouch! In fact, our entire pouch weighs no more than the plastic lid alone on these microwaveable bowls or the pull-tab lid alone of a traditional can of Campbell's Chunky or SELECT or Progresso soup.

Those same Campbell’s Chunky or SELECT and Progresso ready-to-serve soup cans empty weigh 2.65–2.70 ounces per can; or 7 to 8 times more than the weight of our pouch! And yet, our pouch provides the same shelf life as a can or plastic bowl.

What does all of that mean? For every 10 truckloads of product we ship in pouches, Campbell's and Progresso are sending 11 truckloads full of bowls. If they ship cans, that translates to 14 truckloads versus our 10! Less packaging means less energy is used to make the package and less energy consumed in transporting the package from our manufacturing facility to your store.

In this day and age, less (energy) is truly more!

Recycling and Landfills 

Highlights from the most recent annual report from the US Environmental Protection Agency (2005):

• Containers and Packaging account for 31% of all municipal solid waste ("MSW") generated in the US. This is the largest single contributor to MSW each year... the next largest is "Nondurable Goods" at 26%.
• In 1988, America had 8,000 landfills. Today, only 1,654 landfills are operating, though the combined capacity has remained relatively constant, as the remaining landfills have increased in size.
• 4.6 pounds of waste are generated each day, by each person in the US, 365 days a year, on average... up 24% since 1980 and more than 100% since 1960.
• While recycling has increased fourfold over the last 45 years, more than 54% of that 4.6 pounds of waste ends up in a landfill... everyday.
• Only 1 out of 3 cans, 1 out of 5 glass jars, and 1 out of 20 plastic containers are recycled.

We need to reduce the weight and mass of our waste by reducing the source of waste.

For years now, the EPA has been focused on encouraging Americans to practice "source reduction" or simply stated:"use less".

Our pouch carries a Plastic recycling designation of "7 Other", the same as Campbell’s and Progresso’s plastic microwaveable bowls. This "7 Other" designation indicates that the package can be recycled, though most recycling centers are not capable of accepting this form of plastic container for recycling.

Unfortunately, it is a trade-off between the safety and toughness of the package (shelf stable with a shelf life equal to a can or plastic bowl) versus recycling versus "source reduction" (i.e., less packaging).

With less weight, all the toughness of a microwaveable bowl or can, the same "7 Other" designation as a bowl and, when empty, a dramatically smaller "footprint" when discarded, we think our pouch is the superior way to bring you safe, all natural, great tasting, shelf stable, ready-to-serve soup.

And we are constantly evaluating new packaging, which we hope will allow us to reduce our "waste profile" even more in the future.

**New England Country Soup is a trademark owned and distributed by New England Country Foods LLC Manchester, VT. Campbell's is a trademark owned by CSC Brands LP. Progresso is a trademark owned by Pet Incorporated and distributed by General Mills Cereals LLC. ©2007 New England Country Foods LLC