Ketchup-Have or Not

Well, yes: it's a hyperprocessed food. There's lots of sugar in it and lots of salt. That's why it's so palatable. I just did a quick check on the website of a local supermarket (Europe): Heinz has the highest amount of sugar and salt. Supermarket own brands have less of both; probably the reason why they taste less good.

I make my own ketchup along with my own salsa and taco sauce. The ketchup has some salt and sugar, but I use it sparingly once in a great while.

I like mixing ketchup and mustard together. I call it red and yellow sauce.

Well, the advantage of highly processed stuff with lots of salt is that it's often still good way past the best-by date. I eat so little ketchup that even a small bottle of Heinz lasts me years.

I'm having the ketchup, usually in quantity, 4-8 tablespoons, depending. (Unlike wolfman, I do drown certain foods in it.) It's only maybe 2-3 times a week, though, tops.

Do most people eat that big a serving? My friends usually react with surprise if they see me use that much ketchup on something, which makes me think that's an unusual serving.

I agree with wolfman that claiming there's "hidden sugar" (or hidden sodium) when it's right there in the ingredients and the nutrition label . . . well, that's odd to me.

I know that some people avoid sugar like religion, but in a personal sense I don't really get the alarm about ketchup and sugar. I do understand that sugar can be appetite-triggering for some individuals, but ketchup isn't appetite-triggering for me.

Also, there are unsweetened ketchup brands. (I use one at home, and the one I usually buy tastes great: I think they need to use better-quality tomatoes, because the role of sugar in ketchup is in part to balance the acidity.)

Beyond that, ketchup still is not IMO a high-calorie food, and it's mostly concentrated tomatoes.

FWIW, the unsweetened brand I buy has 1g sugar per tablespoon (inherent, not added), 10 calories, and 105mg of sodium. Looking at other people's diaries here, they make choices that I don't prefer that amount to way more sugar and calories (even sodium) than that (which is fine - their call). If I want to spend some sugar/sodium allowance on ketchup, I think that's OK, too.

I get that people with high blood pressure may need to limit salt/sodium, so the ketchup would need to be limited. I'm lucky that my BP's been fine since weight loss.

@Tymeshia Depends what type of ketchup one is using.

The one in my kitchen is 105 mg per tablespoon. No added sugar.

If you are a ketchup fan / maybe try a few healthier brands esp for your low sodium needs?

It tastes good because it contains most tastes we recognise all at once -- sweet, salty, tangy, umamami -- and it's all there in an additictive balance. It can also make substandard food taste better. But yeah in order to deliver that big flavour hit it needs to be high in a salt and sugar, Like a lot of things it's probably more about the portion than anything.