Campbell's tomato soup is in the top 10 of weekly grocery purchases by Americans. And now it's getting a little healthier. Campbell's announced last week that it has reformulated its century-old recipe to contain 480 milligrams of sodium per serving. The old-style soup, which is still on shelves, has in excess of 700 milligrams per serving. The new level is considered healthy under USDA and FDA guidelines (but is not low enough for people on sodium-restricted diets). The sodium reduction was achieved through "lower-sodium natural sea salt and leveraging its proprietary flavor enhancements," a Campbell's spokesman said. In other words, they aren't telling how it was done. Sodium in chicken noodle and cream of mushroom, two other top sellers, was also reduced.

— Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS COOKBOOK

RECLAIMING RECIPES LOST TO KATRINA

Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding not only killed many and caused billions of dollars in property damage, but the storm washed away countless family recipes, those lovingly hoarded scraps of notepaper and newspaper on which family meals and family memories were made. To the rescue came Judy Walker, food editor of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, who started the "Exchange Alley" column to reclaim lost recipes. These became the heart of "Cooking Up a Storm, Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans" (Chronicle, $24.95), edited by Walker and veteran cookbook author Marcelle Bienvenu, containing more than 250 recipes from readers and New Orleans' chefs.

— Chicago Tribune

FINAL WORD

"A lion tamer, daredevil, teacher? I don't honestly know, but whatever it would be would have to have a lot of excitement, creativity, be action-packed and involve cool people."