For me/us, the main downside is all the sodium. Sometimes when I'm sick I want Lipton's chicken noodle soup (and a peanut butter sandwich) but I usually toss out most of the flavor packet, just use a tiny amount if I don't have my own stock on-hand, a rarity. I'm with you Kate.

I don't think it is the pressure canning, it is their recipe. Although you can't can the noodles at home, home pressure canned chicken soup with the noodles added after opening the jars is 10x better than the commercial canned soup.

But our taste buds age too, just like the rest of the body. So what tasted great as a kid may easily by yucko now. ;-)

Dave

I too think Campbell recipes have changed and it is not pressure canning. I used to use their cream soups in cooking. You can taste and see the difference, the cream soups come out of the Campbell's can all runny now, it used to be that they were so condensed one had to spoon them out of the can. I've revived my skills making my own cream sauces and roux but of course can't can them, although the gumbo made with roux freezes well.

Though I too use the convenient Campbells soups for cooking, it's absolutly no compare to making a homemade cream of mushroom soup. And other than having to wash the blender...it's so easy.

Having developed lymphodema, I'm now salt sensitive and I may have to rethink a lot of things. My allergies already made me face a lot of eating changes some fiveteen or twenty years ago....so here we go again.

Like you, I use to like Campbell's Noodle Soup, but now can't stand it. For some reason it tastes soapy to me. My late husband commented on the change of flavor, as well.

Madonna

In my case, the chicken tasted like dog food smells and the noodles had a strange chemical flavor. I use to use their cream soups as bases for other dishes but haven't in years. Glad to know I'm not the only one with these taste issues.

I'm not sure about the commercial canning stuff, but,like most I don't want all of the sodium etc.

I found a way to make my own cream of ******* soup from Cooking Light magazine with almost no sodium and way less fat than a can!

The basics are 1/4 c Uncle Ben's brown rice cooked in a couple of cups of organic chicken broth for a LONG time, like 40 min.

Cook onion and garlic, what ever vege you like (maybe broccholi or even peas) til done, add milk at the end if you like! Makes a pretty nice cream of **** soup! Nancy