Marinara Sauce: why 270 g per cup is wrong
USDA Foundation "Sauce, pasta, spaghetti/marinara, ready-to-serve" (FDC 332282) publishes 270 g (9.5 oz) per US cup of marinara sauce. This site rejects that figure and publishes 250 g (8.8 oz) instead, from Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce (producer label) (density 1.0567 g/mL, matching the composition of the substance). The reason:
Same physics as the SR Legacy record: at 87% water the density cannot pass about 1.05 g/mL, and 1.141 g/mL would make the sauce 3% heavier than tomato paste, which is 75% water. A 135 g half-cup serving is a serving weight, not a volume measured in a cup.
The arithmetic
| Source | 1 cup | Density | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDA Foundation "Sauce, pasta, spaghetti/marinara, ready-to-serve" (FDC 332282) | 270 g9.5 oz | 1.1412 g/mL | Rejected on physics |
| Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce (producer label) | 250 g8.8 oz | 1.0567 g/mL | Published here |
The published figure and its sources
The full sourcing for marinara sauce, including every accepted and rejected figure, the state or filling method behind each, and the physics or standards reasoning applied, is on the ingredient page.
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