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Ah, ketchup— that beloved and tasty condiment that Americans can't get enough of. On average, we go through about three bottles per year, with kids and teens consuming the most. Want to quench your thirst and break a world record? Try drinking a bottle of ketchup as fast as possible. The fastest time to drink a 120-milliliter (4 oz) bottle of ketchup is 32.37 seconds. German TV reporter Benedikt Weber set the record on February 17, 2012, at Chong’s Diner in Nuremberg using a straw.
Ketchup is more than just a condiment; it’s an obsession and a source of some very interesting facts.
10. The Early Versions Didn’t Use Tomatoes
Though modern ketchup is made with tomatoes, its early versions used ingredients like anchovies, shallots, oysters, lemons, or walnuts as the base.
You might find walnut ketchup unappealing or the flavors of shallots and oysters too strong. Many others from past generations felt the same way, which is why mushrooms were the preferred choice. A recipe for mushroom ketchup, found in Beeton’s Book of Household Management (first published in 1861), calls for a peck of mushrooms, along with salt, pepper, mace, allspice, and a touch of brandy.
If mushroom ketchup isn’t your thing, you could try the Filipino version made with bananas, which gives the condiment a sweeter taste. And don’t worry if you find yellow or brown ketchup unusual. Most of the products on the market are dyed red to stick to tradition.
If banana ketchup still doesn’t sound appealing, there are plenty of other fruity and veggie versions you can try, including plum, pear, sweet mustard, cranberry, carrot, mango, apple, or horseradish.
5. The Five Fundamental Tastes
The primary tastes people commonly recognize are sweet, sour, bitter, and salty, with a fifth one—umami, or savory—joining the list. Umami has a rich, meaty flavor and can be introduced into dishes using seasonings like monosodium glutamate and soy sauce. This flavor was identified by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda and is naturally present in foods such as ripe tomatoes, fish, and cured meats.
Early ketchup recipes focused on just two basic flavors: salty and bitter. However, modern versions, thanks to H.J. Heinz, incorporate five distinct tastes. Heinz's innovation included a greater use of vinegar and sugar, contributing sourness and sweetness, while also using only fully ripe tomatoes to ensure the presence of umami flavor.
The majority of ketchup consumed worldwide is produced by major brands such as Heinz, Hunt, and Del Monte, with Heinz holding the top spot globally. It ranks as the third most popular condiment in the United States, following mayonnaise and salsa, likely due to its ability to satisfy both our craving for sweetness and our love for meaty flavors.
Originally, ketchup was intended more as a cooking ingredient than a condiment. Its initial formulations were simple, with only basic flavors, but over time, it evolved into a popular table sauce.
Ketchup, now a staple condiment, wasn't always used that way. Initially, it served as an ingredient in more intricate dishes such as pies and complex sauces, and was used to enhance the flavor of fish, meat, and poultry during cooking. Housewives looking to make gravy from chicken parts like necks, gizzards, feet, and livers would often add a teaspoon of mushroom ketchup for extra flavor. They could also use it to prepare hare hash or ox-cheek soup. Ketchup became more widely used as a condiment in the early 1900s, with the rise of hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fries.
The world of spices and seasonings has evolved far beyond what H.J. Heinz, the pioneering figure, could have imagined. For those with adventurous tastes, there are now exciting options like beer-flavored ketchup for poached eggs and onion-flavored ketchup for an Angus burger. Additional flavors include cheese, apple cider vinegar, and jalapeño. These gourmet variations play on the five basic tastes, such as sourness or umami, offering fresh and bold twists to familiar flavors.
7. The Ketchup Cure
If you're looking to cleanse your body by releasing bile from your liver into your intestines, and if you believe in this 19th-century idea, you might want to try curing yourself with ketchup.
In 1835, ketchup was sold as a form of medicine, known as tomato pills. This concept was introduced by Dr. John Cook Bennett, who was the head of the medical department at Willoughby University in Ohio. He believed that tomatoes had healing properties, capable of curing conditions like diarrhea, jaundice, and indigestion. Bennett's inspiration came directly from Dr. William Smith, a physician from Michigan.
Bennett enlisted the help of Archibald Miles, who was promoting his “American Hygiene Pill” patent medicine, to market “Dr. Mill’s Compound Extract of Tomato.” There's some debate about whether the initial product simply reused the original hygiene pills, but later versions did include tomatoes. Miles’s success led to a wave of imitators, making even bolder claims about cures for ailments such as rheumatism, the flu, and headaches.
Many of these ketchup pills were fraudulent. They didn’t actually contain any tomatoes; instead, they were just laxatives. This led to the collapse of the tomato pill market by 1840, as people who wanted to clear their sinuses were not thrilled about the unintended side effect of colon cleansing.
6. Ketchup Helps Prevent Cancer
Although their science was often criticized, Bennett and Smith's claims about ketchup’s health advantages turned out to be true. It can benefit heart health and lower the risk of certain cancers, thanks to its rich content of lycopene, the antioxidant that gives tomatoes their red hue. Lycopene works by preventing cell damage and reducing inflammation caused by free radicals. Interestingly, ketchup is more beneficial than raw tomato juice, as the body better absorbs lycopene from cooked tomato products, which contain higher levels of the compound.
Studies suggest that lycopene can help with prostate cancer by slowing the growth of cancerous cells and influencing how these cells interact. It interferes with the blood supply to these cells by inhibiting the formation of blood vessels that nourish tumors. Although there’s evidence supporting lycopene’s potential benefits for cancers of the liver, skin, breast, and lungs, the results remain uncertain. Remarkably, lycopene is naturally present in several human organs, including the lungs, liver, skin, prostate, blood, adrenal glands, and colon, where it plays a protective role against cancerous cells.
Lycopene supplements, often marketed as 'essence of tomatoes' or 'tomato pills,' are available globally. These 'miracle pills' are believed to prolong life, lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks, combat arthritis, manage diabetes, and even prevent wrinkles. Bennett’s original idea of tomato pills has now come to fruition in the form of these widely available supplements.
5. Slower Than A Turtle
How quickly does Heinz ketchup leave the bottle? According to the company, it exits at a speed of 0.045 kilometers (0.028 miles) per hour, or roughly 1.3 centimeters (0.5 inches) per second. To put that in context, some turtles can move at a speed of 0.8 kilometers (0.5 miles) per hour on land.
Heinz highlights the slow flow of its ketchup as a feature to be appreciated. In 1979, the company aired a commercial featuring two boys eagerly waiting for ketchup to dribble onto their food. The commercial played to Carly Simon’s 1972 song 'Anticipation,' which became widely known as 'The Ketchup Song.' The ad not only cemented the tune in ketchup history but was also voted the best commercial of the 20th century. Carly Simon later shared her regret over her song's association with the condiment.
In a fun twist, there's actually a ketchup-themed song titled 'Aserejé (The Ketchup Song)' by Las Ketchup, a Spanish girl group. The song is inspired by the Sugarhill Gang's classic 'Rapper's Delight.' In a neat family connection, Las Ketchup consists of sisters, and their famous father is the flamenco guitarist El Tomate.
If you’re like the children in the commercial, anxiously awaiting ketchup to pour, try tapping the '57' embossed on the bottle. For an even faster pour, remove the cap and insert a straw into the bottle. Be sure that the straw nearly touches the bottom. This trick helps increase airflow, allowing the ketchup to flow more quickly.
4. The World’s Largest Ketchup Bottle
What happens when a ketchup bottling plant teams up with a water tower company? They join forces, of course. This is the story behind the iconic structure located in Collinsville, Illinois, home to the world’s largest ketchup bottle.
In 1949, the W.E. Caldwell Company, a Louisville-based firm known for constructing tanks and towers, built the bottle for the G.S. Suppiger catsup plant in Collinsville. At the time, G.S. Suppiger produced Brooks Catsup, then dubbed 'America’s largest selling TANGY catsup.' The bottle itself stands as a colossal 21.4-meter (70.1 ft) tall steel tank perched atop 30 meters (100 ft) of legs, giving the structure a towering height of 52 meters (170 ft).
The world’s largest ketchup bottle is a celebrity in its own right. It boasts a dedicated website, a fan club, and even an annual festival. It also plays a role in promoting an active lifestyle, with a walking club hosting the Catsup Bottle Water Tower Walk and the bottle serving as the centerpiece of the Big Bottle Bicycle Ride. Today, the W.E. Caldwell Company operates under the name Caldwell Tanks, while G.S. Suppiger ceased to exist after merging with the P.J. Ritter Company in 1959.
3. Multinational Party
Ketchup is a versatile condiment that pairs with nearly any dish you can imagine, including sweets and beverages. To host a party showcasing international flavors, bring out a bottle of this magical red sauce.
Start with fried chicken slathered in ketchup, a beloved dish in countries like China, Thailand, and Jamaica. For a taste of places like Trinidad, India, Japan, Poland, and Norway, drizzle ketchup over pizza. To give pasta dishes a Swedish twist at your gathering, try ketchup over spaghetti and macaroni.
Don’t forget to include dessert and snacks. Take inspiration from our friendly Canadian neighbors—pick up ketchup chips from brands like Lay’s and Herr’s, and prepare a Canadian ketchup cake for special occasions. Add chocolate ketchup, such as the kind made by Hershey Resorts in Pennsylvania, to use as a dipping or barbecue sauce. Baskin-Robbins once tested ketchup ice cream but never let the flavor leave their lab. Don’t fret! You can either whip it up yourself using a recipe like Heinz’s carnival cream or find it at local mom and pop stores in New York. Lastly, offer your guests a drink of pruno, a homemade prison wine made from ketchup, sugar, fruit cocktail, and oranges.
2. It Cleans! It Polishes! It Dyes! It’s Ketchup!
Ketchup is a miraculous condiment. It’s so extraordinary, it could easily be the star of a late-night infomercial, with an excited male host and a beautiful woman by his side.
Ketchup is acidic due to its tomatoes and vinegar. This acidity makes it an inexpensive cleaning agent, much to the delight of budget-conscious individuals. It can even remove tarnish from copper. To clean pots and pans, apply a layer of ketchup, let it sit for 10 minutes, and rinse off. You can also treat tarnished pennies by covering them in ketchup for an hour before washing them. It’s also highly effective for cleaning brass. People use it on brass items like jewelry and lamps, following the same process used for copper.
Ketchup can polish steel, which is why it’s sometimes used to shine silverware and steel sinks. However, it can damage silverware if left on too long, so make sure to rinse it off quickly. For tough tarnish, let the ketchup sit for up to 15 minutes before rinsing it off. Due to its metal-shining properties, many frugal car owners even use it to polish the outside of their vehicles.
1. The World’s Largest Ketchup Packet
The people of Collinsville, Illinois, set another ketchup-related record—this time for the world’s largest ketchup packet. It’s also recognized as the largest condiment sachet in the world and even graces the inside cover of the 2009 edition of the Guinness World Records book.
This massive packet was created in 2007 during a fundraiser for the Collinsville Christian Academy, which had suffered fire damage. Heinz generously donated 4,000 glass ketchup bottles. Participants paid $1 for each bottle, which was then emptied into a trough. The ketchup was vacuumed up by a hose and transferred into a packet made by Clear Lam Packaging.
This giant stands at a towering 2.4 meters (8 ft) tall, stretches 1.2 meters (4 ft) wide, and is 24 centimeters (9.5 in) thick. Weighing in at approximately 500 kilograms (1,100 lb), it has the capacity to hold 480 liters (127 gal) of ketchup.
