Tempest In A... Ketchup Bottle?

taraf

AppleGuy we make a lot of sugar in Canada. The vast majority of the world's supply of white granulated sugar comes from beets, which we grow a lot of. we also grow a lot of corn, which is another major supply of it.

Almost none of the sugar that actually gets used in food preparation actually comes from sugar canes: it's too expensive. what does get used is mostly demerara, but even that you can't assume that the "brown sugar" you're buying isn't just white sugar with a hint of molasses

AppleGuy

taraf well, I mean in the context of 'cane sugar', which isn't grown in Canada.

That said, I did a little research:

"Prepared in Canada" means the entire product is prepared in Canada.
"Made in Canada" means the final stages of the product are made in Canada.

So Heinz Ketchup is 100% Canadian.

GrumpyCanadian

Thane_Bitter The issue with Kuhne is their lids, I need to get a oil can wrench to get the lid off the jar.

I've noticed. The simple solution is to use a spoon, if you don't already have a kitchen vacuum breaker made specifically for that purpose. Insert the tip of the spoon under the edge of the lid, then use the handle as a lever, gently pushing inward (toward the jar) and upward against the lid. Without much force, you'll year the vacuum break and air rushing in. After that, the jar will be so easy to open, that even a scrawny wimp like me can remove the lid without a struggle.

GrumpyCanadian

taraf The cooking process will turn it into paste whether you want to or not. You make ketchup in a slow cooker from crushed tomatoes, vinegar, salt, and a small amount of sugar.

That depends what you're aiming for. If I were to bother, I wouldn't want to reproduce the store-bought stuff. Rather, I would opt for one of the many recipes that use fresh, ripe tomatoes with less sugar and more herbs. These usually involve less cooking, and give something that has a texture that is closer to a commercial relish, meaning that you need a spoon, not a squeezable bottle.

GreenEnvy22

Meh, we switched to French's when Heinz pulled out. We like it better, it's often on sale cheaper.

Dks01

GreenEnvy22 I hate French’s. They should stick to mustard, their ketchup is just vile.

Donoreo

Dks01 I hate French’s. They should stick to mustard, their ketchup is just vile.

You are the only person I have ever heard say that. My brother, who puts ketchup on just about anything, likes Frenchs compared to Heinz. He dislikes most others in comparison.

FrathosCAN

Thane_Bitter Here's my tip for opening hard to turn vacuum sealed lids on glass jars, use the round knob part of an old manual style can opener (eg from a small camping type opener), slide it under lip of lid & twist to break the vacuum. The lid will now turn easy peasy.

Dks01

FrathosCAN The tip of a table knife works well. So does a small, flathead screwdriver. It is easier if you run the lid under hot water first (basic science - dissimilar materials). The metal lid expands slightly and is more pliable to the application of force. Dry hands are also best.

g121

work great : )) .. https://i.postimg.cc/XqQBGwHP/Gripper.jpg

Donoreo

g121 work great : )) .. https://i.postimg.cc/XqQBGwHP/Gripper.jpg

You can upload images now.

Hydraglass

Donoreo You are the only person I have ever heard say that. My brother, who puts ketchup on just about anything, likes Frenchs compared to Heinz. He dislikes most others in comparison.

Same - we used to use Heinz, but switched almost 15 years ago, long before the leamington tomato bruhaha - found the French's quality superb and the taste and consistency much better.

Donoreo

Hydraglass Same - we used to use Heinz, but switched almost 15 years ago

It was only introduced a little over 10 years ago: https://financialpost.com/news/retail-marketing/condiment-wars-how-canadian-nationalism-helped-a-u-k-owned-corporate-giants-quest-to-be-ketchup-king

"In late 2014 to little fanfare, The French’s Food Co. LLC — best known for its mustard — started selling ketchup in grocery stores."

Hydraglass

Donoreo That seems about right - I know it was in the 2010's - right around when junior was born a year or two either way - so I guess it would have been 2014 (I was thinking 2012/2013 for some reason). We switched as soon as it was available in our local Loblaws store.

corster

The timing basically coincided with Heinz shuttering Leamington so it was very fortunate on their part

GrumpyCanadian

corster I think they did it because of the kerfuffle over the Heinz Leamington closure. From memory, their advertising was unapologetically obvious that some aspect of production was in Canada, as if to say, "unlike our competitor, which abandoned you". Unless I have it wrong, though, it was either prepared here with U.S.-sourced tomatoes, or used Leamington tomatoes, but was not made there. Does anyone remember the details exactly?

While on the subject, has anyone else tried either Primo or Canada Sauce ketchup? Opinions?

corster

GrumpyCanadian my recollection is vauge but similar to yours - French's ketchup was a relatively new product prepared in Canada with US ingredients around the time of the Heinz closure - as soon as the plant in Leamington went independent and started selling product to companies other than Heinz, French's switched to using their ingredients and marketed the hell out of it.

AppleGuy

So CBC had an article on this Ketchup controversy - all ingredients are Canadian except the sugar (as it's real sugar and not HFCS and related edible carbohydrate products).

GrumpyCanadian

For those interested, the article that AppleGuy referred to seems to be this one: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/heinz-ketchup-usa-bottles-1.7444163

At the store I checked, there were definitely more U.S.-sourced bottles than those claiming Canadian tomatoes, so that claim seems dubious. Then there is the issue of flavoured ketchup products that "cannot be made in Canada"; why can't they? Do they contain banned ingredients? What about those products makes it impossible for them to be made here? I won't buy any anyway, but I hate when companies lie even more when caught in a lie.

I also disagree with the claim that the PM's comment was misleading. Firstly, it was a historical example, and was indisputably true. Secondly, however they justify it, foreign-made product is still on Canadian shelves. Were we in their litigious home country, someone would surely have sued them over those claims by now, especially since they ran ads about it and didn't have a disclaimer explaining their lies about production capacity at the Canadian plant.

GrumpyCanadian

I needed to make a stop at the grocery store on my way home, so had a look, just out of curiosity. The couple of minutes I spent looking at a few bottles confirm what corster wrote: some products are made in Quebec, with the "ALIMENTS PRÉPARÉS AU QUÉBEC" emblem, no less (which means they pay for the privilege, if I'm not mistaken), but many are still not ("PRODUCT OF U.S.A." they say on the back of the bottle, with no Canadian content claimed). The only products that claim Canadian production with Canadian tomatoes were the unflavoured "totato ketchup" products, in 375ml, 1L and 1.5L sizes; everything else appears to be imported.

Also, supporting Donoreo's point, a number of products feature a maple leaf on the front of the bottles, but it is not particularly meaningful. In some cases, it only claims to be made with Canadian ingredients, and in other cases, it adds that it was prepared in Canada with domestic and imported ingredients on the back of the bottle. To really confirm his point, French's mustard prominently features a maple leaf on the front of the bottle, claiming that it's made with "100% Canadian mustard seed", but on the back of the bottle, we see "Imported by...".

So, all of that is to say that I agree with the PM. Not all Heinz ketchup is "Made in Canada. By Canadians. With Canadian tomatoes.", so both that ad and the statement by the Kraft Heinz representative quoted in the article are misleading, if not outright lies. Some sizes of unflavoured "tomato ketchup" may be made in Canada with Canadian tomatoes, but by no means all. Furthermore, all of the other tomato-based products and sauces that I looked at appear to be imported.

Donoreo

GrumpyCanadian The only products that claim Canadian production with Canadian tomatoes were the unflavoured "totato ketchup" products, in 375ml, 1L and 1.5L sizes; everything else appears to be imported.

I believe we are all talking about plain ketchup. I saw pickle flavoured the day. No, no thank you.

Kathy_9

Donoreo Believe it or not, the pickle ketchup is quite good. My favorite is the jalapeno ketchup.

GrumpyCanadian

Donoreo I believe we are all talking about plain ketchup.

Right, and that was part of my point that may have been lost in my babbling: there was at least one size (I think it was 750ml) of plain, unflavoured "tomato ketchup" that had "PRODUCT OF U.S.A." in large print on the back of the bottle, and no maple leaf on the front of the bottle, claiming Canadian tomatoes. So, unless the Kraft Heinz people want to claim that those bottles have been in stock for 4+ years, their claim doesn't hold water.

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