What is the most delicious ketchup? Often this question is asked by customers in the supermarket. Everyone would like to purchase not only an ideal product in terms of quality, but also healthy. This is what will be discussed in this article.
Many say that ketchup is considered a useful product. Yes, this, of course, is true, but only if it is natural. At present, ketchup has a lot of brands. Shelves of shops are lined with a variety of ketchup jars. It remains only to figure out which one is high-quality and safe.
The history of ketchup origin
Initially, this product appeared in China. It was used as a marinade for fish dishes and shellfish. There were no shellfish in the ketchup at this time. It consisted of mushrooms, beans and anchovies.
This product becomes tomato in England. This event took place in the 17th century. But ketchup spread around the world only in the 20th century. For a hundred years, he was able to acquire a considerable number of shades. Today, about ketchup, brands of all kinds can be told for a long time.
Which product is better to buy: in glass or plastic?
A better option is the first. Thanks to the glass container, you can see what color and consistency of ketchup is inside. Also, this container does not enter a chemical reaction with the product, which ensures a sufficiently long shelf life.
One of the drawbacks of the packaging is that getting tomato sauce out of there will be difficult.
But the remnants of the product from plastic utensils are very easy to get. But this container has a lot of disadvantages. So, the maximum shelf life is six months. A prerequisite is that it must be in the refrigerator, and not on the shelf of the store.
Foil ketchup can be stored for up to one year. But, as a rule, preservatives are added to it.
What are the benefits of this product?
The main advantage of ketchup is the antioxidant lycopene, which it contains. It is he who helps to increase immunity, and also protects the skin from unwanted exposure to the sun, prevents the development of diseases of the heart and blood vessels and tumors. Scientists have proven that if lycopene is thermally processed, its absorption by the body will be much better. Thus, this product is much healthier than fresh tomatoes.
Also evidence of the positive side of ketchup, the brand that represents it, are all kinds of medals from various exhibitions. They are usually shown on the product packaging.
The disadvantages of ketchup
Tomato producers indicate additional substances on the label.
Preservatives are added to extend the shelf life of the product. It turns out that this is not some dangerous drawback of the sauce.
The buyer should be concerned about additives such as stabilizers and thickeners. A quality product does not need them to any degree. The same can be said of citric acid.
If the composition of the ketchup of the brand you purchased contains such additives, then the manufacturers may have used low-quality tomatoes. The manufacturing technology of the product could also be disrupted.
What are the features of ketchup?
To prepare a kilogram of a good tomato product, about two kilograms of tomatoes should go. If so, then the ketchup should have a dark red hue. The pinkish or orange colors of the product indicate that it contains additional starch and applesauce.
The brown shade of ketchup indicates the presence of spoiled tomatoes.
The consistency of the product should be uniform and dense. Pay attention to whether ketchup looks like jelly. If so, manufacturers added too many stabilizers and starch to it.
The opinion of nutritionists about the product
The opinion of nutritionists is a bit twofold. Why? The fact is that most people use ketchup when eating so-called “harmful” foods. This, of course, is not beneficial to human health. The advantage of the product is the content of antioxidants necessary for the human body in it.
But who knows what quality tomato paste manufacturers used? In addition, this product contains components such as sugar, salt and vinegar. The last argument also applies to the disadvantages of ketchup.
How to choose a quality product?
By its consistency, ketchup should be uniform and thick. This was stated above. Also, reddish or red-brown color indicates a good quality product.
The taste should be sweet and sour or spicy, and the smell should be the smell of tomatoes. If the smell is bitter, then do not purchase this product. The following sections of the article will provide a comparative description of the various brands of ketchup. Thanks to this, it will be possible to choose the highest quality product.
Quality comparison of ketchup
Each of the products in question has vinegar, sugar and spices in its composition. This section will focus on Heinz ketchup. In addition to these additives, it contains thickeners and stabilizers. As for Baltimore ketchup, the package has the inscription “contains lycopene”. The previous brand also has this. This is actually just a marketing ploy. In any tomato product, this antioxidant is present.
It is also worth noting that Heinz ketchup is sour. In this case, the mass fraction of titratable acids does not reach the upper limit of the norm.
Baltimore ketchup has a very low salt content. Thus, in terms of taste, it is one of the delicious products in this category.
In the Heinz Tomato ketchup, the salt content is 65% of the daily human requirement per 100 g of product. One of the advantages of both products is that they do not have applesauce, preservatives or harmful food additives.
Some Information About Calve Ketchup
This product belongs to the first category. He has very good indicators, i.e., taste and composition. But it contains too much sugar. Which, of course, always alarms experts who conduct all kinds of examinations.
It is noteworthy that in its composition there are no preservatives and starch.
But the disadvantage of this product is the presence in it of vinegar and citric acid. These additives add a sour taste to ketchup. But, as noted above, the presence in the composition of citric acid indicates a violation of the production technology of the product. The salt content is normal.
It should be noted that this ketchup is the sweetest among the brands that are considered in this article.
Also in this product is glucose-fructose syrup and spices.
A little about lesser known product brands
These include the “3 wishes” ketchup. Having studied customer reviews, you can highlight a number of advantages of this product. These include its affordability, convenient packaging, uniform consistency, the taste of tomatoes, the absence of preservatives and colorings. The minus of the “3 wishes” ketchup is sodium benzoate and sour taste. The presence of the first component negatively affects human health. Since it is he who causes allergies and urticaria, and also inhibits redox processes in the body. The use of large amounts of sodium benzoate contributes to the development of tumors, Parkinson's disease. This component is practically not excreted, but accumulates in the human body. Thus, this type of ketchup is harmful to the buyer.
Also in the composition of this product are such additives as citrus pectin and glucose syrup. The first component helps reduce the absorption of valuable minerals. As a result, fermentation in the colon begins. Because of this, flatulence occurs, proteins and fats are poorly absorbed. This ketchup is made in Kazakhstan.
Another product that will also be discussed in this article is Chumak ketchup. It is made in Ukraine. Like the previous brand, it has an affordable price. The advantages of the product include good taste, texture, aroma, natural composition, lack of preservatives and artificial colors. The disadvantages include the presence of additives such as citric acid and starch. Note that none of the previous ketchups had the last component. Also, such an additive as citric acid indicates the wrong manufacturing technology of the product. In addition, in the composition, like in other ketchups, there is vinegar. After examining the reviews for this product, we can conclude that most people like it because of its excellent taste. But his composition does not match the ketchup recipe due to the content of citric acid and starch.
When comparing the products "3 desires" and "Chumak", it is better to give preference to the latter, since sodium benzoate is a more harmful additive. And the best option would be to purchase ketchup and a completely different brand.
conclusions
This article examined several types of tomato product. Each of them was given a detailed description, their composition was carefully studied. It was told not only about the well-known brands of ketchup, but also available at a price category.
Once again, we note that the presence of additives such as citric acid, starch, sodium benzoate is not a sign of insufficient product quality. Therefore, when buying ketchup, you should pay attention to the composition. Use the product in moderation. Remember that it should have a sweet and sour taste.
So, to summarize for this product. Having studied the composition and customer reviews, we can conclude that the most high-quality and delicious ketchup is Baltimore. It is he who most of all meets the requirements both in consistency and in smell. Of course, its price is slightly higher than that of the category that was considered last, but there are no harmful food additives in it. Therefore, eating it, you can not think about its cons.
Remember that it is better to purchase a quality and healthy product at a higher price than a cheap one with the addition of starch.