Tillamook Old Fashioned Beef Jerky: Labelgrade C+ (68/100)

The short answer

Tillamook Old Fashioned Beef Jerky delivers 10g of protein for 80 calories per 1 oz (USDA FDC 2534279) — a genuinely useful, shelf-stable, portable protein snack, which is exactly why people reach for jerky. It earns a Labelgrade C+ (68 / 100). The protein density is perfect (A+); what holds it back are the two things jerky is almost always guilty of: 520mg of sodium per ounce, because jerky is cured and salted, and 7g of sugar from the brown-sugar glaze. Eat it for the protein, but treat the sodium with respect.

Why this Labelgrade

How it compares

The sodium is the catch — and it’s a real one

Here’s the honest verdict on “is jerky healthy”: it’s a solid protein snack that also happens to be a sodium bomb. This one carries 520mg of sodium per ounce — about 23% of the FDA’s 2,300mg daily limit in a single serving — and that earns an F on the sodium dimension. The grade isn’t punishing Tillamook for a defect; salt is how jerky is made. Curing draws moisture out, concentrates the beef, and preserves it, and the salt comes along for the ride. Lower-sodium jerky exists, but no jerky is a low-sodium food.

The practical issue isn’t one ounce — it’s that jerky is easy to graze. A 10 oz bag eaten across an afternoon is well over a day’s worth of sodium before you’ve touched anything else you eat. If you have high blood pressure or you’re watching sodium closely, that’s the number to plan around: portion it to an ounce or two, pair it with water, and don’t let the bag itself be the serving size.

What the glaze adds, and how to buy better jerky

The other knock is sugar. The label lists brown sugar as the second ingredient, and the result is 7g of sugar per ounce — a brown-sugar glaze that softens the cured-beef bite and is squarely a flavor choice, not nutrition. USDA doesn’t break out an added-sugar line for this entry, but with sugar named in the ingredients, we score it as added rather than naturally-occurring. It’s not a huge load, but it’s the difference between this jerky and a cleaner one.

If you want the protein without the extras, the label tells you everything in two glances. First, sodium: anything meaningfully under 520mg per ounce is a better pick, and some brands land in the 300-400mg range. Second, the ingredient list: look for jerky with no brown sugar, cane sugar, or honey — “no sugar added” and unglazed styles are common now. Biltong, an air-dried beef that’s typically made with little or no sugar, is another route to the same 10-ish grams of protein with a cleaner label. The protein appeal of jerky is real; you just don’t have to take the glaze with it.

Scope

This page covers Tillamook Old Fashioned Beef Jerky, Old Fashioned (10 OZ/283 g), UPC 051943103419, as represented in USDA Branded Foods FDC 2534279. Tillamook sells multiple variants in this product line — other sizes, flavors, or fat levels may have different macros and Labelgrade scores. Manufacturers periodically reformulate; always cross-reference the actual package label, especially if you have allergies or dietary restrictions.

Ingredients (from the USDA Branded Foods entry)

BEEF, BROWN SUGAR, BEEF BROTH, SALT, FLAVORINGS, CULTURED CELERY POWDER (CELERY POWDER, SEA SALT), APPLE CIDER VINEGAR, VINEGAR, GRANULATED GARLIC.

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Scope: This page applies specifically to Old Fashioned Beef Jerky, Old Fashioned (10 OZ/283 g) · UPC 051943103419. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.