# Why does reduced-sodium soup taste like crap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954 "2007-04-06T05:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954/21 "2019-02-27T14:55:51Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The problem is, for those of us with kidney problems, potassium is just as bad as sodium. > > If I’m eating canned soup, a good solution is to mix a can of regular with a can of low-salt. But usually I cook my own, experimenting with various spices, plus lots of garlic and onion. Potassium is actually quite a bit worse if you were to consume it in the amounts most people consume sodium, especially for someone with kidney problems. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954/22 "2019-02-27T15:11:54Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Potassium is actually quite a bit worse if you were to consume it in the amounts most people consume sodium, especially for someone with kidney problems. It clearly causes zombification. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954/23 "2019-02-27T15:16:40Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It clearly causes zombification. 😉 Clearly :smack:😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954/24 "2019-02-27T17:14:32Z")
To give a sophisticated culinary answer: Salt is a popular seasoning because salty stuff (in moderation) generally tastes better. My solution to the “problem” is to eat less of salt-containing foods (or fatty foods, or high-calorie ones in general), rather than going for “low salt” or “reduced calorie” foods, that often taste like crap. I agree that proper use of spices lessens the need for adding salt. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954/25 "2019-02-27T23:39:56Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > Canned soup (and many canned foods) have a lot of salt in them because salt helps mask off-flavors that develop when the food is heated to very high temperatures during the canning process. > > The extra salt especially helps in “cream” based soups like Cream of X which can become bitter when processed. For soups like Chicken Noodle, I’m not sure if the salt is there to mask any off-flavors or just because all the other soups are so salty they salt it heavily for consistency. My mother made low-sodium soup from fresh ingredients. It still tasted like crap. Low-sodium, because her father-in-law died at 55 from heart attack, after a life of eating handfuls of salt with his meals, and she didn’t want my dad to go the same way. (High sodium diets were associated with heart attack at the time) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954/26 "2019-02-28T00:06:05Z")
I had noticed that the broth flavor profile for even the ‘full sodium’ version of Campbells [chicken broth based] soups changed badly about 15 or so years ago, starting to taste like it was only vaguely chickenish flavored - very ‘dishwater’ flavorless. I took to making my own defatted chicken broth and freezing it at the time. With a one quart/liter frozen lump, and judicious additions of various veggies, meats and starches it really isn’t that long to crank out a decent soup [if you slice the carrots and celery to an eighth of an inch ‘coin’ they cook in about 15 minutes at a decent simmer] If I am not over concerned about picture perfect soup, a mezzaluna and bowl make fast work of chopping veggies really finely. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954/27 "2019-02-28T05:24:26Z")
Well, dammit y’all. Now I’m craving a bowl of salty canned chicken soup. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-reduced-sodium-soup-taste-like-crap/398954.md?page=1)