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Packaged foods against USDA reference foods of the same kind

Matched kind for kind, packaged foods and USDA's reference foods are closer than the gap between "processed" and "whole" suggests: in 11 of 17 kinds the median sodium per 100 g is within 10%. The widest gaps: packaged cereal has 314 mg against 456 mg in USDA's reference records, and packaged butter 607 mg against 487 mg.

Published · By · the rules are cited to FDA and USDA, the figures computed from USDA FoodData Central (April 30, 2026 release)

Sodium: packaged cereal at 69% of the reference median, packaged butter at 125%

Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%Median sodium per 100 g in packaged products, as a share of the reference medianCereal69%Soup83%Cookies87%Peanut butter89%Crackers90%Salad dressing96%Bacon96%Bread97%Cheese97%Milk98%Tortillas99%Hummus101%Hot dogs103%Ketchup104%Ice cream104%Yogurt115%Butter125%reference = 100%
Median per 100 g, packaged as a share of reference. USDA FoodData Central branded foods and reference foods (SR Legacy, Foundation, Survey).

Source: USDA FoodData Central branded foods, April 30, 2026 release; products that meet the site's data contract, one per UPC. Reference foods: SR Legacy, Foundation and Survey (FNDDS), same release.

Kind by kind, per 100 g

KindPackaged productsReference recordsSugars (packaged vs reference)SodiumCalories
Cheese13,6041620 vs 1.1 g643 vs 662 mg357 vs 326
Ice cream10,9193922.1 vs 20.9 g77 vs 74 mg221 vs 187
Cookies10,4918033.3 vs 37.1 g290 vs 332 mg467 vs 453
Bread9,0971954.9 vs 4.7 g463 vs 478 mg264 vs 275
Cereal7,14610821.7 vs 22.3 g314 vs 456 mg385 vs 385
Yogurt5,381909.7 vs 8.9 g47 vs 41 mg86 vs 86
Salad dressing3,917626.7 vs 6.8 g800 vs 833 mg333 vs 238
Soup3,8492311.2 vs 1.2 g278 vs 335 mg50 vs 54
Crackers3,062984.8 vs 3.5 g656 vs 726 mg433 vs 443
Milk2,685765.0 vs 5.6 g54 vs 55 mg58 vs 61
Peanut butter1,115349.4 vs 10.5 g328 vs 368 mg594 vs 520
Hummus1,09853.3 vs 0.4 g429 vs 426 mg214 vs 237
Bacon1,08860 vs 0 g1,667 vs 1,734 mg500 vs 488
Butter909120 vs 0.1 g607 vs 487 mg714 vs 724
Hot dogs870181.8 vs 1.2 g900 vs 877 mg280 vs 273
Ketchup512523.5 vs 21.3 g941 vs 907 mg118 vs 101
Tortillas4061.5 vs 2.5 g541 vs 548 mg288 vs 302

Method and limits

Packaged: every product in the aisle (one per UPC). Reference: the USDA records whose description names the same kind of food (for example descriptions beginning "Cheese," or "Cereals ready-to-eat"), which include both generic and branded foods USDA analyzed. Medians per 100 g. A comparison of all packaged foods against all "whole" foods would compare different foods, not processing; matching kind for kind removes most of that difference. Reference records are few for some kinds (as few as 5), so their medians move with one record.

Download: the table as CSV (CC BY 4.0: reuse it with a link to this page).

Sources for this page
USDA FoodData Central
the food and product records, April 30, 2026 release. fdc.nal.usda.gov
FoodData Central documentation
what each data type is and how branded records are submitted. fdc.nal.usda.gov
21 CFR 101.9, Nutrition labeling of food
the label format, rounding and Daily Values. ecfr.gov
21 CFR 101 subpart D, Nutrient content claims
the thresholds for "low sodium", "sugar free", "high in". ecfr.gov
FDA, How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label
the 5% and 20% Daily Value rule. fda.gov