Healthy Choice Power Bowls Mango Edamame: Nutrition & Labelgrade C+ (68/100)
C+ 68 / 100 — A vegetarian grain bowl with a genuinely good vegetable-and-grain base — edamame, multigrains, kale, chard, spinach — that delivers 7g of fiber and very low saturated fat. The problem is the sugar: 20g total, 17g of it added, from mango, dried cherries, apple juice concentrate, and honey in the vinaigrette. That alone drops a wholesome-looking bowl to a C+. Honest read: the name says 'Power Bowl' but the macro profile is closer to a sweet grain salad, and the added-sugar load undercuts the health-halo framing.
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Healthy Choice Power Bowls Mango Edamame delivers 10 g of plant protein and 7 g of fiber for 370 calories in a 9 oz (255 g) bowl (USDA FDC 2531830) — edamame and a four-grain blend of brown rice, red rice, quinoa, and barley, tossed with mango, carrots, and a kale-chard-spinach mix in a red wine vinaigrette. It earns a C+ (68/100). The vegetable-and-grain foundation is genuinely good, and the bowl posts an A+ on saturated fat and a B+ on sodium. What pulls it down is one number: 20 g of sugar, 17 g of it added, which scores an outright F. The “Power Bowl” name and the quinoa-and-kale optics promise a clean fitness meal; the macro panel reads more like a sweet grain salad.
Why the C+
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | C- | 56 / 100 | 10 g of protein, but spread across 255 g of bowl that’s only ~3.9 g per 100 g — fine for a meatless meal, not dense |
| Ingredient quality | B- | 72 / 100 | A real whole-food deck: edamame, four whole grains, mango, kale, chard, spinach, sunflower kernels — cleaner than most frozen meals. The knock is sweetening, not additives |
| Saturated fat | A+ | 97 / 100 | 1.5 g per bowl — the fats are olive oil, sunflower oil, and seeds, with zero cholesterol |
| Sodium | B+ | 83 / 100 | 431 mg per bowl — genuinely restrained for a complete frozen meal |
| Sugar | F | 32 / 100 | 20 g total, 17 g added — dessert-level sugar in a savory-marketed bowl, and the grade-killer |
| Fiber | D | 49 / 100 | 7 g per bowl is decent in absolute terms (grains + edamame), but the dimension scores it modestly |
The honest summary: every dimension here is respectable-to-excellent except one. Without the sugar problem this is a low-B bowl. The 17 g of added sugar is the entire gap between this C+ and the B it could have been.
The sugar is hiding in plain sight
The dimension scores make it look like a sweetener was dumped in, but there’s no syrup or cane sugar on the label. The 17 g of added sugar is assembled from four whole-food-sounding sources, none of them obvious from “Mango Edamame”:
- Mango — naturally sweet, and concentrated as a cooked frozen-meal component.
- Apple-juice-infused dried tart cherries — cherries that have been sweetened with apple juice concentrate before they ever hit the bowl.
- Apple juice concentrate — the infusing agent itself, essentially fruit sugar with the fiber removed.
- Honey — listed in the red wine vinaigrette, which is also what makes the bowl vegetarian-but-not-vegan.
That 17 g works out to roughly four teaspoons of added sugar — about what’s in a small flavored yogurt or half a can of soda — folded invisibly into something marketed on kale and quinoa. The sugars are fruit- and honey-derived, but on the Nutrition Facts panel and in the body they behave like any other added sugar.
How it stacks up against its real shelf rivals
The fair comparison is other single-serve frozen meals — both the meatless trays and the lean diet entrees. These are the verified numbers from the two products this bowl is matched against:
| Product | Protein | Calories | Added sugar | Fiber | Sodium | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power Bowls Mango Edamame (this) | 10 g | 370 | 17 g | 7 g | 431 mg | C+ (68) |
| Healthy Choice Beef Merlot | 13 g | 180 | ~2 g | ~4 g | 576 mg | B- (71) |
| Amy’s Black Bean Veg Enchilada | 10 g | 331 | 0 g | ~6 g | 791 mg | B (76) |
What this table actually shows is counterintuitive. Against Amy’s enchilada, this bowl wins on fiber (7 g vs ~6 g) and wins big on sodium (431 mg vs 791 mg) — its base is no slouch. It loses on exactly one axis: added sugar, where Amy’s has zero and this has 17 g. Against the same-brand Beef Merlot, the bowl trades down on protein (10 vs 13) and calories (370 vs 180), but offers nearly double the fiber, lower sodium, and a far less additive-heavy ingredient deck (Beef Merlot leans on phosphate salts, modified starch, and caramel color). In every head-to-head, the added sugar is the line item dragging this bowl behind a peer it otherwise matches or beats.
Who it’s for
A flavorful, fiber-decent meatless lunch for someone who isn’t tracking sugar and likes a sweet-savory mango-and-cherry profile. The vegetable and whole-grain base is real, the saturated fat and sodium are well-managed, and 7 g of fiber gives it staying power most frozen meals lack. The shopper who should walk past it is anyone watching added sugar — for them, Amy’s enchilada delivers the same 10 g of protein with zero added sugar, or a plain edamame-and-grain bowl gets you there with none at all.
Ingredients
Red wine vinaigrette (water, red wine vinegar, honey, olive oil, corn starch, salt, basil, black pepper); cooked multigrains (water, brown rice, red rice, red quinoa, black barley); edamame; mango; carrots; apple-juice-infused dried red tart cherries (red tart cherries, apple juice concentrate, sunflower oil); chard; kale; roasted and salted sunflower kernels (sunflower kernels, salt, sunflower oil); spinach. (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 2531830.)
Where to buy
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 1 bowl (255 g)
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (1 bowl (255 g)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 370 |
| Protein | 10g |
| Total Fat | 14g |
| Saturated Fat | 1.5g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 50g |
| Dietary Fiber | 6.88g |
| Total Sugars | 20g |
| Added Sugars | 17.1g |
| Sodium | 431mg |
| Cholesterol | 0mg |
| Calcium | 89.2mg |
| Iron | 1.71mg |
| Potassium | 530mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Healthy Choice Power Bowls Mango Edamame (9 oz (255 g)) · UPC 0072655000735. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains animal-derived ingredients
contains no listed meat or fish
contains a gluten-bearing ingredient
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in Healthy Choice Power Bowls Mango Edamame?
10 g per 9 oz (255 g) bowl (USDA FDC 2531830), from edamame (the soy is the main contributor) plus the brown rice, red rice, quinoa, and barley blend, with a little from the sunflower kernels. At 10 g it just reaches the FDA 'good/high in protein' threshold of 20% Daily Value, but per 100 g of food it's only about 3.9 g — modest, which is why the protein-density dimension scores a C-.
Why is the Labelgrade only C+ when the bowl is full of vegetables and whole grains?
One dimension drags it down: sugar. The bowl carries 20 g of total sugar, 17 g of it added, which scores an F (32/100). Every other dimension is respectable to excellent — B- ingredients, B+ sodium, A+ saturated fat. Strip out the sugar problem and this is a low-B bowl; the sweeteners are the single reason it lands at 68 instead.
Where do the 17 g of added sugar come from — there's no candy in it?
Four spots, none flagged by the 'Mango Edamame' name: the mango itself, the apple-juice-infused dried tart cherries (cherries sweetened with apple juice concentrate), the apple juice concentrate, and honey in the red wine vinaigrette. They're whole-food-derived sugars, but concentrated fruit and honey count as added sugar on the label and your body metabolizes them much like table sugar.
How does the protein compare to a meat-based Healthy Choice meal?
It's lower. The same-brand Cafe Steamers Beef Merlot delivers 13 g of protein in 180 calories; this bowl gives you 10 g in 370. The trade is that this one is meatless, has more than triple the fiber (7 g vs ~4 g), and runs lower in sodium (431 mg vs 576 mg). You're choosing a fiber-forward vegetarian lunch over a leaner, higher-protein dinner.
How many calories does it have, and will it fill me up?
370 calories per bowl — substantial for a single-serve frozen meal and well above the 180-calorie Cafe Steamers entrees. The 14 g of fat (olive oil, sunflower oil, sunflower kernels) and 50 g of carbs from the grains and fruit do most of the work, and the 7 g of fiber adds staying power. It eats like a real lunch, not a diet meal.
Is it vegan, and is it actually a healthy choice?
Vegetarian but not vegan — the red wine vinaigrette contains honey; everything else is plant-based. 'Healthy' is a mixed verdict: the base (edamame, four whole grains, kale, chard, spinach, 7 g fiber, 1.5 g saturated fat, zero cholesterol) is legitimately good, but the 17 g of added sugar is a real strike against it. Think nutritious vegetarian bowl with a dessert-level sweetness built in.
When was this data last verified?
2026-05-28, against USDA FoodData Central FDC 2531830 and the Healthy Choice product page. Note the Power Bowls line has many varieties with very different sugar and sodium — this sheet covers only the 9 oz Mango Edamame bowl (UPC 0072655000735).