By Vanessa Richins

It’s funny how sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

In West Virginia, Menis Ketchum used ketchup to propel himself from an unknown Democratic lawyer to the newest state Supreme Court judge.

Ketchum had a problem. As an article in the Charleston Daily Mail discloses, a poll that he conducted showed that only 4% of people even knew who he was. Tom Vogel, executive director of the state Democratic Party, suggested that Ketchum do a ketchup ad.

His ads are set in Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

In England, schoolchildren will no longer have a favorite condiment available.

Many schools there have decided that ketchup is too high in sugar and salt.

They are also banning Marmite, a salty yeast extract used in sandwiches.

According to the food industry guidelines, “the daily amount for a five to ten-year-old is 4g of salt and 85g of sugar.”

As an article in Mail Online states, ‘The council has probably looked at the values of sugar and salt per 100g but the thing is that tomato ketchup is consumed in small amounts - nothing like 100g, which would be about 15-20 teaspoons,’ says nutrition scientist Joanne Lunn of the British Nutrition Foundation.

‘Often it’s the Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

What were they doing with tomatoes during the civil war?

Check out this recipe from the 1861 edition of The Housekeeper’s Encyclopedia:

TOMATO CATSUP

• 1 gallon tomatoes
• 3 tbs. salt
• 3 tbs. ground black pepper
• 3 tbs. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. ground allspice
• 4 peppers, sweet, not hot
• 1 onion (optional)
• 1 quart horseradish juice (roots grated and liquid pressed out)

Select tomatoes not overripe, skin and strain the tomatoes; to every gallon add three table-spoons of salt, three of Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Next time you grab a ketchup packet, check out the art.

After success with a promotion involving holiday themed packets, Heinz North American Foodservice decided to sponsor a contest for children in Grades 1-12.

Their task was to design art based around a Heinz ketchup bottle to be used on single serve ketchup packets. Schools were sent a packet with submission forms, lesson plans about tomatoes, and fact sheets. The contest ran for nine months, and was also open to homeschooled children.

Out of over 15,000 entries, twelve students - one from each grade - were chosen as the winners. Their schools received $750 worth of ketchup and Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Heinz, the unofficial King of Ketchup, has decided that the mere enticement of more lycopene in your diet isn’t enough to sell ketchup anymore, so they’re adding a few new ingredients—including double the amount of tomatoes.

After a year of taste-testing, Heinz’s new Special Blend, aimed at foodies with more, ahem, refined tastes, will also include sea salt, cayenne pepper, and Demerara sugar.

Special ingredients, of course, mean “special” prices—a bottle (glass, by the way) of the fancy ketchup will cost about three times that of the original version.

Even the Heinz label is getting an upgrade Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

A condiment of two names—so which is correct?

Is it ketchup or catsup?

According to World Wide Words, one of the earliest references to one of our favorite tomato-based products occurs in the 1711 book by Charles Lockyer, An Account of the Trade in India. And he calls it “Ketchup.”

The origins of the word are convoluted, apparently, but the short version is that it likely comes from a Chinese dialect. The original sauce was meant for fish—interesting since these days ketchup isn’t a very common addition to fish dishes.

Read the rest of this entry »