Students planning soup as a whole dinner
If you expect to eat the entire tin, use the whole-tin amount when reading calories and salt. A label’s half-can serving may not match your meal.
Who is this for?
Students comparing calorie figures
Tesco Groceries lists Heinz Weight Watchers Tomato Soup at 76 kcal per 295g can, but Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup at 61 kcal per 200g half-can serving. Compare the amount you would actually eat before choosing between them.
Vegetarian students checking ingredients
Vegetarian suitability does not settle an allergen question. The Tesco product information identifies milk in its low-fat tomato soup and wheat and celery in its low-fat lentil-and-vegetable soup; check the exact pack when shopping.
What should you check?
Start with the portion you will eat, then compare its calories and salt before checking whether the ingredients suit you.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | Compare kcal per 100g across different pack sizes. For dinner, also calculate the amount in the portion you intend to eat. | I’m eating the whole tin, so a half-tin figure is not my meal figure. Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal per 200g half-can serving for Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup: both labelled servings together provide 122 kcal. |
| Portion size | Check the pack weight and the number of labelled servings; a 295g can and a 400g can need not represent the same meal portion. | A smaller can might suit my planned portion, or I might want to keep part of a larger one for later. I need the pack instructions for any leftovers. |
| Salt | Read salt for the labelled serving and work out the amount for your intended portion. Tesco Groceries lists 0.69g per 200g half-can of its Low Fat Tomato Soup. | If I eat the whole 400g Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup can, the two labelled servings provide 1.38g salt; I don’t want to mistake the half-can figure for the whole meal. |
| Ingredients | Check the exact soup’s allergen declaration and vegetarian or vegan wording; a vegetable name or low-fat label does not answer every dietary question. | I may want a vegetarian soup while still needing to avoid a particular ingredient. Tesco’s low-fat tomato soup contains milk, and its low-fat lentil-and-vegetable soup contains wheat and celery. |
Common buying mistakes
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Reading a half-can serving as a whole dinner
Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal and 0.69g salt for a 200g half-can serving of Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup. Eating its full 400g can means consuming two labelled servings.
Decide how much you will eat before using the serving figures.
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Choosing by the words ‘low fat’ alone
Low-fat soups can have different pack sizes and calorie figures. Tesco Groceries lists 87 kcal per 200g serving for Tesco Low Fat Lentil & Vegetable Soup and 76 kcal per entire 295g can for Heinz Weight Watchers Tomato Soup.
Compare kcal for your intended portion on the same basis, then read the salt figure.
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Assuming vegetarian soup has no relevant allergens
The Tesco low-fat tomato soup contains milk; its low-fat lentil-and-vegetable soup contains wheat and celery.
Check the ingredient and allergen declaration on the exact pack rather than relying on the soup’s name.
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Comparing condensed soup with ready-to-heat soup without checking preparation
Campbell's Soup UK describes its Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup as both a soup and a cooking base. Its nutrition is stated as consumed, including 90 kcal per 100g.
Check the preparation directions and compare the amount you would serve, rather than treating the figures for different preparations as interchangeable.
Brand references for tinned soup
Tesco
Its low-fat tomato and lentil-and-vegetable soups offer two 400g vegetarian options with different labelled serving figures.
- Tesco Groceries lists 61 kcal per 200g serving for Low Fat Tomato Soup and 87 kcal per 200g serving for Low Fat Lentil & Vegetable Soup.
- The tomato soup contains milk; the lentil-and-vegetable soup contains wheat and celery.
Heinz
The Weight Watchers tomato and chicken soups are listed as 295g cans, making their per-can figures useful when one can is the intended portion.
- Tesco Groceries lists 76 kcal per can for the tomato soup and 92 kcal per can for the chicken soup.
- The same listings give 1.7g and 1.9g salt per can respectively; the chicken soup is not vegetarian.
M&S
Its listed 400g vegetable and tomato-based soups provide other recipes to compare by portion and ingredients.
- Ocado lists M&S Chunky Vegetable Soup at 33 kcal per 100g and describes it as suitable for vegetarians.
- The Ocado listing for M&S Tomato & Basil Soup says it is made to a vegan recipe but is not suitable for people with a milk or egg allergy because those allergens are present in the environment.
Campbell's
Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup can be considered as a soup or a cooking base, depending on the meal you plan to make.
- Campbell's Soup UK provides nutrition as consumed: 90 kcal per 100g.
- Campbell's Soup UK lists 1.42g salt per 147.5g portion. Follow its preparation directions before comparing a served portion with a ready-to-heat soup.
Sainsbury's
Its tinned-soup category includes own-label and other branded products, with filters that can help narrow a search.
- Sainsbury's shows low-fat and vegetarian filters in its tinned-soup category.
- A filter is not a substitute for checking the ingredients and nutrition on the exact product.
Joybuy soup options
These soup options provide different flavours and pack details to consider for a student dinner. Check the labelled portion, calories and ingredients against the meal you intend to make.
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Heinz Cream of Mushroom Soup 400g
For a mushroom-soup dinner, compare the portion you plan to eat with the nutrition label. This is a 400g product; check the ingredients if you need to avoid milk or wheat.
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Heinz Big Soup Sausage & Vegetable 400g
If sausage and vegetables suit your dinner plans, check the calories for the amount you will eat. The product is 400g and contains wheat; read the full ingredients if you have dietary restrictions.
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Crosse & Blackwell Best of British Spicy Parsnip & Carrot Soup 400g
For a parsnip-and-carrot soup dinner, check the 400g product’s serving and preparation directions. Confirm the pack format if you specifically need a tin, and check the ingredients if avoiding celery, milk or wheat.
Frequently asked questions
Should I compare calories per 100g, per serving or per tin?
Use per 100g to compare soups of different sizes, then use the labelled serving or whole-tin figure for the amount you expect to eat. NHS food-labelling guidance explains that nutrition is given per 100g or 100ml and sometimes per portion; a labelled portion need not be your dinner portion.
Does ‘low fat’ tell me the calories in my dinner?
No. Read kcal for the amount you will eat. Tesco Groceries lists 87 kcal per 200g half-can serving of Tesco Low Fat Lentil & Vegetable Soup, whereas its Heinz Weight Watchers Tomato Soup listing gives 76 kcal for the entire 295g can; those are different serving bases.
What else should I read on a soup label?
Check salt, allergens, dietary suitability and serving size as well as calories. For example, Tesco Groceries lists 0.69g salt per 200g half-can serving of Tesco Low Fat Tomato Soup, so eating the whole can means counting both labelled servings.