Interesting Ketchup facts

February 24, 2010 | In: Food facts

The original ketchup, or ke-tsiap, was created in the Orient. It was a tangy sauce of pickled fish, shellfish, and spices, which was used on fish.

In the early 1700′s, English sailors discovered it in Malaya, and brought it back to England. But the unusual ingredients were hard to find, so there were many variations, using flavors like walnut, anchovy, lemon, or even tomatoes!

In 1792, a book called The New Art of Cookery introduced a sauce called “tomato catsup,” but it was hard to make. Then in 1876, Henry J. Heinz began mass-producing the stuff, and the red sauce caught on in a big way.

Indonesian and Asian culture invented what we know today as ketchup.

During the 17th century the condiment arrived in England with the name of catsup.

Kids eat 50 percent more ketchup than adults.

Ketchup was first for sale to the public by F. & J. Heinz Company back in 1876.

The ingredients in a typical modern ketchup are tomato concentrate, spirit vinegar, corn syrup or other sugar, salt, spice and herb extracts (including celery), spice and garlic powder.

25% of ketchup is sugar!

When Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25 miles per year.

The world’s largest ketchup bottle is proudly displayed in Collinsville, Illinois. Built atop a water tower in 1949, it stands 170 feet tall.

Four tablespoons of ketchup, the average amount eaten with an order of fries,
has the same nutritional value as an entire ripe tomato.

Squeeze bottle were introduced in the 1980’s to solve the problem of ketchup not flowing out of glass containers.