Worcestershire sauce: why 275 g per cup is wrong
USDA SR Legacy "Sauce, worcestershire" (FDC 171610) publishes 275 g (9.7 oz) per US cup of Worcestershire sauce. This site rejects that figure and publishes 267 g (9.4 oz) instead, from Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, 568 mL bottle (Gedal technical sheet) (density 1.1285 g/mL, matching the composition of the substance). The reason:
USDA's own record lists 78.5 g of water per 100 g, so no more than 21.5% of the sauce is dissolved or suspended solids. A solution that weak weighs 1.16 g/mL only if nearly every dissolved gram is salt, the densest common solute (a 21.5% salt brine weighs 1.16 g/mL); Worcestershire's solids are mostly molasses and sugar, and a 21.5% sugar solution weighs 1.09 g/mL. Lea & Perrins bottles weigh 1.107 and 1.129 g/mL and Heinz's 1.127 g/mL.
The arithmetic
| Source | 1 cup | Density | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDA SR Legacy "Sauce, worcestershire" (FDC 171610) | 275 g9.7 oz | 1.1624 g/mL | Rejected on physics |
| Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, 568 mL bottle (Gedal technical sheet) | 267 g9.4 oz | 1.1285 g/mL | Published here |
The published figure and its sources
The full sourcing for Worcestershire 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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