Following a lobbying campaign by Osem, which owns the biggest selling ketchup in the country, Israel’s Health Ministry in 2015 ruled that Heinz ketchup does not contain a sufficient amount of “tomato solids” for it to be classified as ketchup, downgrading it instead to “tomato seasoning”. Israeli food standards require ketchup to hold 41% of tomato concentrate; Heinz only held 21% of tomato concentrate.
However, it’s not the only reason to avoid the world’s favorite brand (that’s what the company claims). Heinz Ketchup is not only unhealthy but extremely toxic and quite dangerous to consume over time. 5 reasons why you should be cautious about this condiment:
1. High Fructose Corn Syrup: The FDA doesn’t list ketchup as lethal. But since high fructose corn syrup can kill you, you are not safe either. This toxic ingredient made from heavily genetically modified corn is a major cause of heart disease, obesity, cancer, dementia, liver failure, tooth decay, and diabetes. Once metabolized by your body, it can lead to a sharp spike in your blood sugar levels, wreak havoc with your immune system, and damage your liver.
Additionally, high fructose corn syrup contains mercury not regulated or measured by the FDA. In 2009, two studies conducted in the United States found mercury in nearly a third of 55 popular branded food and beverage products where high fructose corn syrup was the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient.
“Mercury is toxic in all its forms. Given how much high-fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered. We are calling for immediate changes by industry and the [US Food and Drug Administration] to help stop this avoidable mercury contamination of the food supply,” the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Dr. David Wallinga, a co-author of both studies, had warned.
2. Sugar: Heinz Tomato Ketchup contains 23.6 grams sugar per 100 grams. According to the American Heart Association, the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day is (for men) 37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons and (for women) 25 grams or 6 teaspoons per day. A tablespoon-size serving has 4 grams of sugar. 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons. Who eats only 1 tablespoon? For visual delight, watch the video below:
3. Distilled Vinegar: A lawsuit filed in 2014 alleged that Heinz Distilled Vinegar was not all natural but was made from genetically modified corn, which is grown with toxic pesticides and chemicals. The term distilled vinegar is something of a misnomer, because it is not produced by distillation but by fermentation of distilled alcohol. The fermentate is diluted to produce a colorless solution of 5% to 8% acetic acid in water, with a pH of about 2.4. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14. Values below 7 are acidic.
4. Sodium: The biggest problem with ketchup is that it is high in sodium. One tablespoon can contain up to 190 milligrams of sodium. Heinz Tomato Ketchup contains 907 milligrams sodium per 100 grams – that’s 37% of current recommended limit for many people (2450 milligrams each day).
A lot of nutritionists suggest adults should limit sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams per day. The World Health Organization recommends keeping sodium intake under 2,000 milligrams a day. Combined with the many other places that sodium appears in your diet, 190 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon definitely is a problem (Americans eat, on an average, more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day).
5. GMO: According to the USDA, more than 90% of all corn grown in the US is genetically modified. While high fructose corn syrup and corn syrup are directly derived from genetically modified corn, tomato concentrate (contains citric acid derived from corn), vinegar (made from rye and corn) and salt (contains dextrose derived from corn) have an indirect role to play in making the Heinz ketchup unhealthy.
This Article (Heinz Isn’t Ketchup: 5 Reasons You Must Avoid It) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com.
Guys, thanks of the piece. One other thing to note: if the label says “sugar” in the U.S., it’s likely GMO beet sugar.
Since when did Anonymous start publishing fear-mongering “Food Babe” type articles.
I expect more.
I want my Cat Sup to be a seasoning not a vegetable. I want tomatoes on my Hamburger with onions and everything else. on my hot dog’s Meat Loaf and other things i want a seasoning. Thank you Heinz!!
So. I guess we aren’t too great with math right??? There are 1000milligrams in one gram. So. 907 milligrams is LESS than one gram. So there’s LESS THAN 1 gram of sodium in 100 grams of ketchup. How the hell is that 37%???? Please tell me how 1/100 is 37%. Explain it to me again??? Because I must not understand this concept of math. Could this be the whole “common core” math program I’ve heard of??? Let’s be clear…… 907 milligrams out of 100,000 milligrams is 0.907 percent. LESS THAN ONE PERCENT. That’s 1/37 of what the article seems to claim.
Here’s the quote:
“Heinz Tomato Ketchup contains 907 milligrams sodium per 100 grams – that’s 37%. ”
Now before you all loose your collective minds…. I’m not saying that Heinz ketchup is a superfood. Or a cure for cancer. I’m not even saying it’s tasty. But it sure as shit isn’t 37% sodium. So. Read. Understand. Learn. And for fuck’s sake don’t simply believe all the stupid shit the Internet has to offer……
37% of your daily value, not of the bottle of ketchup
I like how you said to read, understand and learn, yet you forgot the mention THINK -something you didn’t do. Before arguing what’s right and wrong please do some research. I agree the article is poorly written, but the 37% are for the DAILY INTAKE. Go ahead and do the math you know so good and you’ll see 🙂
Thank you for pointing it out. The article is updated. The figures now add up. Nonetheless, the fact remains. That Sodium IS harmful and that Heinz has a lot of it which can be avoided by not having more than a tbsp, if not avoiding it altogether.
No, the fact does NOT “remain”. There is simply no evidence that sodium is harmful, and the very idea is absurd. Living things on this planet evolved in concentrated salt water, and have four billion years of evolution behind mechanisms to process it.
Furthermore, claim #5 was a duplicate of your nonsense first claim.
Moreover, not a single thing you wrote is factually correct.
Heard of hyponatremia ? its a serious and potentially fatal condition arising from low sodium causing cells to take up excess water which in the brain can cause cerebral swelling.
If you managed to cut sodium from your diet you would die. Every time a neurone tells your heart to contract it requires sodium to enter the cell and potassium to exit. If sodium is not available there is no other substitute that can ride sodium ion channels, the cell does not depolarise and your heart stops beating.
Of cause my background in biochemistry could just be a big conspiracy to sell ketchup.
Gmos are not bad for you. you are being lied to
In your LLWS Advertisement where the little hot dogs are jumping on the Ketsut and mustard bottles,, All the men are wearing long pants. Except the one on the far Right he is in shorts!!!! Why?? Then the one Next to him on the left is in long pants is the only one who’s pants seem to be blowing in the wind all the others are not… Why??
Heinz does make an all natural version of their ketchup called Simply Heinz; No High Fructose Corn Syrup
No GMO Ingredients*
100% Heinz Taste