The Store-Bought Barbecue Sauce You Won't See Us Adding To Our Cart

Summer is the season for barbecue, whether you're making pulled chicken sandwiches, slathering juicy pork ribs with barbecue sauce, or grilling sizzling sausages. The trouble is, with so many brands of barbecue sauce out there, which should you use?

While it may be delicious, there's one brand that you might want to pass on when you're shopping for the perfect sauce — Stubb's, and more specifically, Stubb's Smokey Mesquite Bar-B-Q Sauce. This sauce has a few ingredients in it that you might want to avoid as they could lead to unwanted consequences such as tummy troubles and other health concerns. Plus, its nutritional profile means that although the sauce tastes great, it might not be the best way to get your macro and micronutrients. So, before you go adding it to your shopping cart, there are a few things you need to know about Stubb's sauces, namely the Smokey Mesquite flavor.

Nutritionally, Stubb's Smokey Mesquite Bar-B-Q Sauce may be one of the unhealthiest store-bought barbecue sauce brands out there. This is, in part, due to the high level of sodium in the sauce. Each serving of this sauce contains 390 milligrams of sodium. At first glance, that might not sound like a lot. However, 2300 milligrams is the recommended daily sodium value. That means that just two tablespoons of Stubb's sauce contain almost 17% of your total daily recommended sodium intake. Too much salt can potentially cause mild issues, such as headaches and bloating, as well as lead to more serious problems, such as high blood pressure.

Beyond the sodium level in Stubb's sauce, there's also quite a bit of sugar. Each two-tablespoon serving contains 10 grams of sugar. For women, the daily recommended sugar intake is 25 grams, while for men, it's 37.5 grams. That means that this barbecue sauce can knock out anywhere from almost ⅓ to nearly ½ your daily sugar intake. And, since the recommended serving size is quite small, it's easy to add more than one to your meal.

Beyond the nutritional profile, there are also a few worrying ingredients in Stubb's Smokey Mesquite Bar-B-Q Sauce. For one thing, this sauce contains cornstarch. Although eating corn starch in small amounts is okay, if you consume too much, you can put yourself at risk of increasing your blood sugar levels. This is because the ingredient is high on the glycemic index. Regularly consuming ingredients high on the glycemic index may also lead to heart issues.

Stubb's also includes guar gum and xanthan gum. These two ingredients are used to help thicken the sauce. Unfortunately, while they can lead to a good consistency in the condiment, they can also cause concerns in your body. Guar gum, in large quantities, can cause gas and stomach discomfort, while if you eat too much xanthan gum, you can wind up with a case of the runs. Yikes!

With that said, although there are some questionable ingredients in the sauce, the sauce is sweetened, in part, with organic honey. But with all these nutritional deficiencies and ingredients, it might be best to choose a different BBQ sauce for your next cookout. Or, better yet, try making a barbecue sauce yourself at home.