Tomato Ketchup | Heinz (2024)

FAQs

Is tomato ketchup good or bad for you? ›

If you enjoy ketchup, you may be happy to hear that because it's made with tomatoes, it's a good source of lycopene. Adding more lycopene to your diet may help protect you from cancer, heart disease, and other chronic conditions. However, some ketchup varieties prove high in sugar and salt.

Sugar is the main component that differentiates tomato ketchup and tomato sauce. Tomato sauce is often made with only tomatoes, seasonings, onion, garlic, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Ketchup, on the other hand, typically has additional sugar, which contributes to its sweeter flavour.

A bottle of classic Heinz ketchup contains tomato concentrate “from red ripe tomatoes,” distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, salt, onion powder, spice, natural flavor.

Some ketchup in the U.S. is labeled "Fancy". This is a USDA grade, relating to specific gravity. Fancy ketchup has a higher tomato solid concentration than other USDA grades.

If you regularly consume tomato ketchup, it can cause several allergies in the body as it contains histamine. It can also cause vomiting and diarrhoea in a person depending on consumption.

The reason for "57" is unclear. Heinz said he chose "5" because it was his lucky number and the number "7" was his wife's lucky number. However, Heinz also said the number "7" was selected specifically because of the "psychological influence of that figure and of its enduring significance to people of all ages".

In Britain, the word ketchup is used, but it's also often called tomato sauce, which sounds confusing if you're a fan of Italian food; in North America tomato sauce goes on pasta and pizza, not French fries.

The Heinz tomato ketchup that is sold in New Zealand, for example, contains concentrated tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt, natural flavours and spice. The only real differences are the use of tomato concentrate and the substitution of apples for some of the tomatoes.

Unless you're a busy diner going through and refilling ketchup bottles every day or two, you should store your ketchup in the fridge. This is because, just like pickles, the flavor and texture declines after you open the bottle or jar and the ketchup is exposed to air.

They originally referred to their product as catsup, but switched to ketchup in the 1880s to stand out. Eventually, ketchup became the standard spelling in the industry and among consumers, though you can still find catsup strongholds sprinkled across the U.S.

What was the original use of tomato ketchup? ›

In the 1830s, tomato ketchup used to be sold as a medicine, claiming to cure ailments like diarrhoea, indigestion, and jaundice. The idea was first proposed by Dr. John Cook Bennett, an American physician, in 1834, who is said to sell the recipe later in form of 'tomato pills'.

However, in 2013 Heinz was acquired by a new company with a new CEO, Bernado Hees. Hees was the former CEO of Burger King, McDonald's fast food rival. Because of Hees' history with Burger King, McDonald's decided to end its 40-year partnership with Heinz and produce its own ketchup instead.

The company may have a surprisingly tasty collection of dipping sauces, but their ketchup has a compelling quality of its own, too. In particular, McDonald's ketchup isn't a commercially-available brand like Heinz or Hunt's, it's their own proprietary blend -- and that makes all the difference.

According to the McDonald's website, its ketchup is made from "Tomato Concentrate From Red Ripe Tomatoes, Distilled Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Water, Salt, and Natural Flavors." Meanwhile, the recipe on the back of the Heinz bottle includes all of the above, plus onion powder and an unnamed spice.

Other compounds in tomato ketchup such as α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid appeared to strengthen the anti-inflammatory effect of lycopene. The tomato ketchup extracts subtly interfered with several inflammatory phases that inhibit chemotaxis.

Banana ketchup is a healthier alternative to traditional tomato ketchup. It has fewer calories and less sugar, as well as more vitamins and minerals. Bananas are a good source of dietary fiber, which can help lower cholesterol and promote digestive health.

Tomato ketchup

There's 0.3g of salt and 4.1g (one teaspoon) of sugar in a tablespoon of ketchup. The recommended daily maximum of free sugars is 30g (about seven teaspoons), so go for reduced-sugar versions, which contain up to 50 per cent less.

Lycopene is even more effective when tomatoes are cooked because the heat breaks down the fruit's thick cell walls and makes the lycopene more accessible to the body. “That means tomato sauce from fresh or tinned tomatoes, and even ketchup can actually provide more lycopene than fresh tomatoes,” says Michael Mosley.