Serious discussion regarding soup.

One of lifes toughest and most controversial questions....

If you have soup in a cup or from a drinks machine, is it still like a meal or is it now a snack? Sitting down with soup in a bowl is blatently a meal, but does the transition from bowl to cup affect its status. I occasionally have tomato soup for lunch, but if i get it from the machine at work is that a second lunch. And what about the mug issue. is soup in a mug a convienant way to consume a tasty meal, where as soup in a plastic cup is a tempoary handling method for a liquidy snack?

I have an important exam tomorrow on civil rights in america from 1865 to 1980.....And i'm thinking hard about soup. I should be worried.

I've got an exam in 2 hours, and now you've got me thinking about soup as well.

Depends

If its chunky and has bits of vege and meat or just vege if your a vegetarian, its a meal.

If its just liquid and or in a cup its a snack......


And yeah dude ahh good luck for tomorrow coz if you are thinking about this you might need it...

Soup in a mug is still a meal, but soup in a disposable cup is a snack or if there is nothing that requires chewing, a beverage.  Ramen is the one exception because there is a lot of noodles in instant ramen, and that is usually packaged in disposable containers.

I don't understand how you can eat anything that isn't prepackaged from a vending machine.  Why not risk salmonella and try the egg salad sandwich as well? 

you pose a very interesting question, but what i really think is important is wheither it is still customary to use a spoon if the soup is in a cup/mug. i personaly do not, unless it is a chunky sort of soup, with bits that are not easily "sipped".

If it is smooth then not if filled with meat then it would be considered a meal.

I don't think it's a meal, hell no, I mean especially if you get it out of a machine. It's a hot, flavored drink, not a meal. It's barely even soup, it's hot water and powdered flavorings.

A proper soup, usually eaten with bread, is a meals worth. Canned soups also count here.

A cuppa soup is a snack/supper item as it contains substantially more 'food' than a simple hot drink, croutons, dried vegetables, etc.

A cup of soup from a machine barely equates to a can of drink, and should be considered no more a snack than a can of drink from the machine next to it.

imo. Soup is serious business.

Edit: It's not so much the transition of bowl to cup that makes it a drink/snack, it's the loss of accompanying bread and the addition of a large amount of water (in proportion to soup) whereas a proper bowl of soup is 100% whatever you prepared, and soup is usually thick (or very watery, but with food items contained within, such as noodle soup) whereas machine soup and cuppa soup is just flavored water.

It comes down to what's in the soup.

Soup from a machine is like a seriously watered down Cupasoup and I wouldn't ever consider Cupasoup a meal.

I think where you start introducing larger pieces that require chewing, you start to get a meal. Take a proper leek and potato; it's thick, it's got potato in it. Add some bread and I'd call that lunch.

Adding bread to a Cupasoup is still not a meal.

I love a nice bowl of tomato soup.

Also, on the subject of soup, I present to you the most hilariously named soup ever:

Soup is ALWAYS a meal, never a snack IMO.  However it can be a measly unfilling meal or a satisfying complete meal, depending on the soup.