The Ketchup Conspiracy
 

I'm a ketchup lover. I have it with everything from hamburgers to calamari to straight up. I get mad when they use ketchup in the movies for fake blood. Here's the thing: the ketchup from the store tastes completly different from the ketchup from McDonalds and Chilis. I have to grab extra little packets like a hobo from Jack-in-the-Box in order to get the good stuff at home. Why does it taste different? Where can I buy the good stuff?

Could be different brand, and maybe different storage / age. if the packets are old, and or heated and cooled, it can change the taste too. But my guess is brand.

It's all Heinz. It confuses the bujesus out of me.

Maybe, somehow, the ketchup picks up the odours from all the oils in the air?

maybe its like the truman show, but they only control your local market, not the fast food joints ;)

Will, were we separated at birth? I too, am a ketchup connoiseur. It truly is the finest of all condiments, high class, unique unto itself. I also need my fix of ketchup packets. I always, ALWAYS grab or ask for extra when I'm out so I can have my own personal stash. People always laugh but when I pull out that ketchup packet at the most critical time, I am hailed a hero (especially if fries are involved. I keep packets at my desk, in my backpack, in the car (when I used to have one).

Funny thing is, I agree, the kecthup in the packets taste different. My theory is: it is stored at room temperature, thus allowing the aromatic properties of ketchup to activate better than the more dormant nature of refrigerated ketchup (idunno, that's all I got).

Also, the ketchup at diners (in bottles at the table) taste close to the packets (is it because they are out on the table at room temperature???).

Or maybe cause the ketchup in packets are kept in packets lines with aluminum causing a mild reaction to the acids?

*runs off to down ketchup packets*

I think you might be onto something as far as the temperature thing. Tomorrow, I will buy 2 glass bottles of Heinz from my supermarket, and I will leave one out in the kitchen for 24 hours. Thursday, I will prepare my finest curly fries and my family shall have a taste test. *If* they still taste the same, my conclusion will have to be that either we're missing another variable, which is possible, OR we're getting ripped off at supermarkets and the good stuff is at restaurants.

Maybe 24 hours is not long enough, remember these are shipped all over the country with out refrigeration; I’d age it a few weeks or months.

Will, isn't the ketchup in stores already at room temp? Wait, you can get glass bottles? Where? They only have plastic at Ralphs and Vons (I live in California).

Do you have ketchup packets to do a blind test as well? You need a control remember. It would probably be best to do a test with Heinz in both the bottle and the packets. Different restaurants use different ketchups like Hunt's.

Good luck!! Give us a full report!!

hmmm, that's a good point. The difference probably doesn't lie in the temperature. Also, the ketchup in Mcdonalds comes in packets at some locations and a spout in others; they taste the same at both. That tells me the packaging probably don't effect the taste, either. I'm running low on variables.
The ketchup in the fridge was going to be the control, but I'm pretty much convinced that it's different ketchup now. The stufff from the store is sweeter, and the stuff from the McDonalds is more salty. Maybe I shouldn't be going elsewhere for the answer: maybe I should make my own ketchup.

Freshness.
The little foil packets are sealed individual servings. you open it up, use it, and you're done. At home, you open your bottle of ketchup, and it takes a couple of months to use it up. Meanwhile, it goes stale.

Now...first let me preface by saying that there is no other ketchup than Heinz. Period. Now...let me go on record as damning whoever came up with the plastic ketchup bottle. It's an abomination. Ketchup belongs in glass. It tastes better. It keeps better. Same as bottled vinegar. In order to keep, vinegar needs to be stored in glass. And yes, glass ketchup bottles are still available. That is all that I'll buy.

why assault the ketchup and put it in a cold environment? Nothing on the packaging suggests to do so... there is no "Refrigerate after opening" printed anywhere on the bottle label.

I think you're just like any other people who thinks same brand of milk taste different from Cartons than compared to bottles. People who think same brand of beer in a bottle taste different than those in a can or keg.

I think same brand of food that has been packaged differently will taste different due to the package itself.

ha! they add shit in it to make it last longer! seriously. at the school caf, they used to pour vinegar or something like that in it. (it was the squeeze bottle type).

and in 1 restaurant(east side marios), they add beer in the ketchup. no joke! one time someone said their food tasted like shit and then i said, maybe its the ketchup. it was. i like my heinz ketchup pure from the store.

Having worked in several food service establishments, I can honestly say I've never seen them add anything to the ketchup.

At one restaurant, however, we did have mustard flavored with one of our popular beers, but it was special-ordered from the mustard manufacturer and not done onsite.

I would say it's 1) the warmth of the ketchup, and 2) the packaging that make ketchup packets taste different. And will, you'll enjoy this: a friend of mine gave me about 100 ketchup packets he'd saved up for me for my 8th birthday present. His mom said that every time they stopped somewhere that had ketchup packets he would grab a few for me.

So yes, I love ketchup too.

You do know that one of the main ingredients in ketchup is vinegar...right? They were probably trying to make the ketchup stretch. Just a thought.

If you use ketchup quickly enough you don't need to refrigerate it.

Certain things taste better at room temperature ... cheese, certain wines, pickles and ketchup. Although, probably not together.

As for BRAND I was partial to Heinz, but I've had to stop using it because now they are putting high fructose corn syrup in it and it's waaaaay too sweet. There are a few "organic" brands that still use brown sugar or cane sugar but I haven't found one that I really like.

HFC ruined everything.

But it would change the taste. The familiar bite of ketchup would become stronger. Likewise, changing the measure of any of the ingredients in kethcup would change the taste. More or less salt, more or less sugar, more or less tomato paste, etc.

just to add: i didnt see them do this in either place but having tasted a newly opened bottle in the caf, i know they did something to it when it was almost empty. i know that adding vinegar will make it last longer but it also tastes pretty bad on fries. (i like ketchup, not vinegar)... and at the restaurant, the ketchup was almost non-eatable. it really tasted like someone poured some lightbeer in the bottle to make it last longer. or it was some really old ketchup. eitherway, i wasnt impressed.

From mcdonald's website:

McDonald’s ketchup is supplied by quality companies such as McCormick, one of the world’s largest spice and condiment suppliers.

Every pack of ketchup served at McDonald’s restaurants is truly unique to McDonald’s. The natural flavors of McDonald’s fancy Ketchup are solely derived from plant sources, providing true natural flavors. Only selected ripe tomatoes are used for our premium ketchup to obtain the highest tomato solids you can find. And, McDonald’s fancy premium ketchup is monitored package by package to ensure a unique, consistent flavor that perfectly complements McDonald's sandwiches and fries.

i work at a restaurant and we use heinz.
its the only brand of ketchup that i'll buy.

everything else taste like crap.

I promise you that leaving it at room temperature won't make it go bad. I actually buy bottles and open them and let them age - I seriously own about 3-5 bottles of ketchup at any time. I think it tastes better. I could be wrong, but I've never gotten sick from eating ketchup that was stored at room temperature for 9 months+.

My guess would be that the storage in a thin metallic packet is the answer to your mystery. Because ketchup is an both oily and sweet it will take on the tastes of it's surroundings (similar to wine or jelly). The stuff you buy in store is in either a glass or plastic container. This means there isn't much taste to acquire from the packing and what is there is a dissimilar taste. Whatsmore, plastics and glasses are translucent so light will be getting into the ketchup and also effecting the flavor whereas the ketchup in packets are not exposed to light or air after packing... only the thin metallic container.

It will go rancid unless you use it fast enough. I don't think there's enough vinegar to keep it "preserved" forever (like pickled eggs and cucumbers).

But the ketchup at Chilis and Applebys, in glass bottles, tastes exactly the same as the little packet ketchup. I'm thuroughly convinced that we, the ketchup public, are being screwed with.

My ketchup says refrigerate after opening right above the bar code label. I admit that to me ketchup is not an all consuming passion, though it is to my kids. I tend to use Tabasco sauce where most people use ketchup; therefore, I buy the cheap stuff.

: prepares to be stoned:

Ah! But have you ever worked in a restaurant? They don't buy crates of bottled ketchup. They buy bulk boxes of ketchup in, nothing other than, a large metallic bladder. At the end of each night they fill up all the low and empty bottles from that bulk container. Now while the ketchup at these restaurants are in a glass bottle for between a day and a week, it spends the majority of its ketchup-life in contact with a metallic surface and in an air-tight, completely dark container. On the other hand, store bought ketchup was bottled, shipped, stored, purchased, and re-stored at your home in translucent containers that never touch a metallic surface after leaving the vat.

You can either call me Sherlock'Dib or Encyclopedia Muad'dib... I prefer the former, but I can roll either way. ;)

I wonder if one can buy a big metal container of this magic ketchup....

Much thanks, Muad'Dib (no matter what they say in Children of Dune, you're not an abomination).

http://www.chefswarehouse.com/Catalo...x?prd_id=GK120

I think that is the stuff, its the only bulk ketchup that wasn't in the packets or the bottles at least that I could find. After shipping charges it looks like around $45 per 28.5 pound case, and you can only get it in the US.

Not to be picky, but Muad'Dib was never accused of abomination, just his sister Alia. Nonetheless, I appreciate the sentiment ;)

And in answer to your question, I have seen some bulk ketchup sold at grocers in large tin containers. While I'm sure it isn't the exact same as the thin packet or bladder casing it would be a heck of a lot closer than the regular stuff. However, if there is a Sam's or something in your area (or a restaurant supplier on the web) I'm sure you could find the box with the thin bladder there.

OMG, biggest brain fart ever. I'm reading Children of Dune right now! Haha. Yeesh.
Definately worth looking in to.

when i was at mcdonalds several years ago..........the ones that are not in small packets did not come in an aluminized container, it was a box of four big plastic pouches. maybe it's just in our heads that ketchup tastes differently or maybe it's time to add this to mythbusters episodes

I know you hate Costco...but you can get it from Costco :)

I like my ketchup but I'm not that much of an addict. However, after reading this post I tried packet ketchup from MacDonald's and the bottled stuff (both claim to be Heinz), and I noticed a clear difference. I agree that the packet stuff tastes better. I decided to read the ingredients labels and noticed that the packet ketchup said garlic powder as an ingredient, whereas the bottled one did not. Could that be it? *edit* just hoped someone might have answered here, did anyone notice this difference?

It's funny that you said you hadn't seen glass bottles of ketchup before, jorgelito, because here in Portugal until about a year ago we only had glass bottles of heinz ketchup ( and packets in fast food places of course).

I refrigerate my ketchup because I don't eat it so fast and it would spoil. On the label round the bottle's neck it says that you should refrigerate after opening.

The Heinz Ketchup here doesn't use that syrup stuff you guys mentioned, it just says sugar.

I remember seeing something on Unwrapped on the food network that all those packets at restaurants come from pretty much the same distributor no matter what product it may be, ketchup, taco sauce, honey, salad dressing, etc. On the show it showed them making the ketchup at the plant before putting it in packets. Perhaps something changes when the ketchup is made a the packet plant as opposed to the bottle plant. Who knows!?!?

On a side note, what exactly makes ketchup fancy?!

Will, I'm surprised that u2 hasn't stepped in to declare another conspiracy theory on your part. Obviously, this is truth, not theory. :D

Really good question Will. I've been wondering this my entire life and have had a few discussions with friends but never came to a conclusion. I do not eat McDonald's (or any fast food for that matter) but I do go in there and steal ketchup periodically for the same reasons aforementioned.

I like my ketchup tangy/spicy (I often add tobasco sauce to the ketchup) which is somewhat how the packets taste. The plastic bottles sold in the grocery store tastes much sweeter. I've tried different brands and they all have that sweet taste. What I've also noticed is that the "good" ketchup is chunkier and somewhat gritty as opposed to the plastic bottle ketchup which is very uniform and smooth.

It definitely could be the storage method, the high fructose corn syrup, the garlic additive, the temperature, or a combination. I cannot definitively say.

I never put my ketchup in the refrigerator as I find that it somewhat diminishes the taste and I can't stand having cold ketchup on my food.

perhaps it is the effect of light, in the bulk and in the glass bottle restaurant scenario, the ketchup is stored in absence of light.
it is packed at the factory, then put in a dark box
shipped all over the place in darkness
housed in darkenss
and served either in the dark packets, or refilled at the end of the night into clear glass bottles, but having speant most of its life in darkness.

my suggestion, stalk your grocery store, when they are stocking the shelf with ketchup, get one out of the box, then store it in a dark room temperature environment.

compare that to your packet, your room temperature glass bottle, and your refridgerated glass bottle brought back to room temp.

that is about as scientifically empircal as I can think of right now.

my wife does not like ketchup, which pretty much makes me not like ketchup.

"

You folks are passionate about your ketchup. If Costco or Sam's Club don't have your ketchup bladders, I recommend looking in Food 4 Less.