Both canned condensed and ready-to-heat soups were tested, plus one dried packaged soup. And we added in take-away soups from Kaplan's Deli and Swiss Chalet to round out the survey.

Canned Soups:

With canned soups, the quality between the two types did not differ, but shoppers may want to check on the number of servings in the can and the price per serving. Many of the soups in the tasting were Campbell's, the company that accounts for 70 per cent of the entire "wet" (as opposed to "dry") soup market.

Tasters tackled different brands without knowing whose noodle was in which bowl. And -- with some exceptions -- they found the overall quality disappointing, noting unpleasant or artificial flavour in virtually all the broths. Also, more often than not, the chicken was chewy and in short supply.

This is the nutrition part of the label of a can of CAMPBELL'S HEALTHY REQUEST Chicken with Rice, canned, condensed. For a complete nutritional breakdown of this (and other) supermarket foods, click on chart to visit NutritionData.com

An examination of labels showed an awful lot of MSG (monosodium glutamate) in most brands, making them tend to be on the salty side. And anyone who prefers to "eat natural" or who has an adverse reaction to MSG (dizziness, headache) will want to avoid this unnecessary additive, anyway. If you're watching your cholesterol intake, be aware that a typical canned chicken soup with noodles has 20mg of cholesterol in a 500 ml serving, chicken with rice has only 7mg, but cream of chicken has 27. Daily recommended total for the average person's cholesterol is 200 to 400mg per day, but as the body makes its own cholesterol, very little of this total should come from dietary sources. Remember to check the label of canned soup, and make sure you aren't dosing yourself with too much salt. Most soups come in low-sodium versions, which are better bets.

A few choices (among the canned products) ladled up better than the rest. Top scorers were: Wolfgang Puck's Chicken & Egg Noodles, Campbell's Homestyle Chicken Noodle, Progresso White Meat Hearty Chicken & Rotini and North America's favourite, Campbell's Chicken Noodle.

Bringing up the rear were: Campbell's Double Noodle, Campbell's Creamy Chicken Noodle, Healthy Choice Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle and Health Valley 99% fat-free Chicken Noodle.

Here's the run-down with some of the tasters' comments. Prices are approximate, and vary quite a bit from store to store. Soups are listed alphabetically by brand within each category.

Good:

Campbell's Chicken Noodle, condensed (88 cents for 103ml/4 ounces). The familiar classic -- 'way too salty, but comforting nevertheless. Unfortunately loaded with MSG.

Campbell's Homestyle Chicken Noodle, condensed ($1.09 for 103ml/4 ounces). Plentiful thin noodles and reasonably good broth. Not much chicken, and again, the dreaded MSG.

Progresso White Meat Hearty Chicken and Rotini, ready-to-serve ($1.88 for 570ml/19 ounces). Fairly fresh-tasting. "Chewy chicken, but not too bad overall."

Swiss Chalet's brand new creamy chicken (pretty good, but again, the slightest hint of my least-favourite red peppers)

Swiss Chalet's chicken noodle vegetable (excellent: Big chunky pieces of tender, juicy breast meat, loads of vegetables, toothsome pasta. (each $3.49 for 435ml/500 ml)

Wolfgang Puck's Chicken and Egg Noodles, ready-to-serve ($1.53 for 435ml/14.5 ounces). Tasters enjoyed the flavour, but found the broth too thick and gooey. "Looks like chop suey." I, personally, liked this soup, but again, found it way too salty.

Average

Campbell's Chunky Classic Chicken Noodle, ready-to-serve ($1.39 for 103ml/4 ounces). Tasters dished up mixed reviews, but all found the broth too glutinous. "Pasty tasting."

Campbell's Simply Home Chicken Noodle, ready-to-serve ($2.35 for 720ml/24 ounces). Comes in a glass jar and boasts big noodles and broth reminiscent of pepper and cooked celery. "Off-flavour, tinny." "A good amount of chicken."

Progresso 99% Fat Free Chicken Noodle Soup, ready-to-serve ($1.88 for 577ml/19 ounces). Firm noodles are a plus, but the oddly-flavoured, thick broth is a turn-off. "Tastes like asparagus."

Below average:

Campbell's Creamy Chicken Noodle, condensed, add milk (88 cents for 103ml/4 ounces). This ooey-gooey disaster came in last in the ratings. "Offensive." "Horrible." And by-the-way, who would choose a soup that requires the addition of milk when you've got a cold?

Campbell's Double Noodle, condensed ($1.09 for 330ml/11 ounces). It has a medicinal smell and mushy noodles. "Tastes like corn."

Wolfgang Puck's Chicken and Egg Noodles

Health Valley 99% fat-free Chicken Noodle, ready-to-serve ($2.29 for 450ml/15 ounces). "Gross and bland." "Overcooked noodles, ham-like chicken, dried seasoning taste."

Healthy Choice Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup, ready-to-serve ($1.49 for 450ml/15 ounces). Tastes of overcooked vegetables and dried seasoning. "Glutinous." "Almost inedible."

Top Scorers by Brand:

I suppose it's no surprise that our top-rated chicken soup is one that was made with love, and bought to take out at Vancouver's own Kaplan's Star Deli. The broth is very chicken-y, rich and soothing, and the matzoh balls (de rigeur, if you're going for real flu comfort) are soft and yielding, yet filling. Cost of a take-away container (one litre/34 fl oz) serving is $4.82

A very close second in our poll was the non-creamy chicken soup from Swiss Chalet, and close behind that was their creamy version.

Campbell's:

Campbell's® Chicken Noodle soup has been Campbell Soup Company's top-selling product for more than 25 years. The company ships on average 327 million cans each year and last year it was the second highest selling branded food item in grocery stores, according to data from AC Nielsen. Campbell's U.S. spokesman John Faulkner said his company's original condensed Chicken Noodle Soup in the familiar red and white can is the number-one-selling soup in the country. Into that soup alone, according to Faulkner, Campbell's puts 1 million miles of noodles annually. We tried several varieties of Campbell's chicken soups:

Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup: The classic, and still a very good bet for all-round flavour. Too salty by half, though.

And Campbell's Select Chicken: Very similar, with big chucks of chicken. A good choice, if a little salty.

President's Choice

President's Choice Chicken and Pasta Ready-to-Serve Soup (with chunks of chicken and pennini pasta, 540ml/19 fl oz, $1.59)

No added MSG, and certainly this thick and creamy soup was salty, but not overly so. My only objection to this satisfying soup was the addition of red bell peppers -- but that's because I don't like red bell peppers, so if you do, you can discard my bias and assume this entry is top-rated.

President's Choice Organics Chicken Noodle ready-to-serve Soup (398ml/14 fl oz, $1.59)

As canned soups go, this one is a clear winner: Big, juicy chunks of prime chicken, toothsome pasta and the perfect balance of veggies and spices. My only objection at all, to either of these excellent soups is that the labels are inconsistent: One lists nutritional information per 250ml serving, while the other lists them for a 199ml serving, making comparisons difficult. Why not list ingredients at so much per 100ml and let the consumer figure out how big a serving is?

On another tack entirely:

Another good bet for the flu season:

For a potent healing drink, steep equal parts hot and spicy (horseradish, cayenne or hot pepper) and a sweetener such as honey or maple syrup in boiling hot water for five minutes. With help from the hot water, the sweet soothes your throat while the spice stimulates, de-congests and expectorates mucus.

However, be forewarned that extra-spicy food -- especially if it isn't cut with sweets -- can irritate a very sore throat.

Read why chicken soup can help against cold and flu symptoms...on evalu8.org.