Today for lunch I brought a can of chili. Hormel Brand Stagg chili and I have to admit I love this stuff but there are a few shortcomings to say the least.
If you make homemade chili then you are in for a real treat. Chili is high in protein thanks to the beans and meat, has lots of vegetables for your vitamins and minerals, and the cayenne pepper that people put in chili to spice it up is very good for you as well.
Not so in a can.
Serving Sizes vs Can Size
But the reason that started me on this bit of a rant is the fact that the nutritional information on the can list all the numbers for 247 grams of chili when in fact you can see by this picture that the can actually weighs in at 425 grams. You have to do some crazy math just to breakdown those nutritional information numbers.
Protein 425 gram can divided by 247 grams per serving times 15 grams of protein per serving equals 25.8 grams of protein per can.
So the protein in here is pretty good for a serving, a serving of course being one can of chili.
Trouble is that this happens in all the boxes, bags, and cans of food in the grocery store. Take a look next time, serving sizes are small always 8 chips, or 10 crackers, or in this case 2/3 or so of a can.
Sodium in Canned Foods
The second thing that drives me crazy is the sodium content. As a father of a kidney patient I can tell you what our nutritionist told us a couple of years ago.
Everybody should limit sodium. Sodium leads to hypertension, kidney problems, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and the average american diet includes about 3400 mg of sodium. Much more than the 2000 mg we should stay under.
Read more at Canned Food and Nutrition
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