One Of The Unhealthiest Beef Stock Brands Is Already In Your Pantry

Stocks and broths are a cornerstone of any kitchen. Store-bought versions enable you to make a dizzying array of soups, sauces, and other dishes without the struggle of making your own stock or broth from scratch. But, the readymade varieties aren't created equal, with a few brands packing in unhealthy levels of some ingredients while containing little to none of the beneficial nutrients that a good stock should have.

One of these health offenders comes from Nature's Promise. It's a brand known for otherwise healthy and organic food at good prices, which makes the appearance of its stock here all the more disappointing. Worse, the brand's beef-flavored culinary stock that landed it here gets double strikes for having both too much salt and not enough additional nutrients when compared to other brands of stock and broth that we liked.

The biggest issue with Nature's Promise organic beef flavored culinary stock is its sodium content. One serving of the stock contains a staggering 600 milligrams, which is 26% of your daily intake. It could be worse; some stocks have over 800 milligrams, which is about 35% your daily value. But, it could also be much better – Kitchen Basics organic beef stock only has 440 milligrams, or 18% of your daily value. Nature's Promise also contains a gram of organic cane sugar which, while negligible, is unnecessary.

To its credit, Nature's Promise beef stock does have some trace nutrients, including a gram of protein, 30 milligrams of calcium, and 10 milligrams of potassium. However, most stocks include varying levels of these same nutrients. The Kitchen Basics stock has a whopping 5 grams of protein and 45 milligrams of potassium, for example, while Texas-based brand H-E-B (which also runs Central Market) has an organic beef stock with 2 grams of protein, 10 milligrams of calcium, and 20 milligrams of potassium.

What do these numbers actually mean when it comes to picking a good beef stock? Essentially, your choice should come down to two things: low sodium content (you can always add more salt later) and good flavor. If you get stuck between a few stocks that meet these points, then you can compare their trace nutrients as a tiebreaker.