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Which Tomato ketchup you should use?

Insight - The Consumer Magazine has published its in-house laboratory test findings on 15 brands of tomato sauce and ketchup from across the country and 2 unbranded samples from Ahmedabad.

Overall, Maggi Ketchup (79) scored the highest among the national brands followed by Kissan Sauce (78) and Heinz Ketchup (78). Among the regional brands, Madhur Premium Sauce and Ketchup topped the list. But our recommendation for the `Best Buy' in the national category is Nilon's Sauce since its price was less than that of Maggi Ketchup. Similarly Madhur Ketchup is the `Best Buy' in the regional category. Two brands - Sona Continental and Tops Continental were tested as a separate category because it had vegetables as ingredients, besides tomatoes. Both the brands were found to be non-conforming, hence they were not rated and ranked.

The samples were also tested for colour, consistency, flavour and absence of defects. Among the national brands, Heinz Tomato Ketchup was preferred the most. Among the regional brands, Madhur Sauce was liked the most.

Yeast and Bacteria

Paulson Ketchup (165), Sona Ketchup (231), Druk Sauce (140) along with both the unbranded samples were found with a very high yeast and spores count and hence failed this test. Sona Ketchup and both the unbranded samples failed the test for bacteria count. Sona Ketchup had the bacteria count as 200 million per c.c against the limit of 100 million per c.c.

Bacteria, yeast and mould are responsible for many types of food spoilage before and during the processing.

Shelf Life

Paulson Ketchup (0.7), Sona Ketchup (0.9), Ohms Sauce (0.8) and one unbranded sample (0.8) failed in the test for acidity as acetic acid. If the acidity (acetic acid) is lower than the minimum limit, mould and yeast may grow, reducing the shelf life of the product. The PFA Act and the FPO have set the limit as not less than 1.0 while the BIS has set the lower limit as 1.2. R.K.'s Ketchup (1.1) and another unbranded sample (1.1) could not meet the requirement of the BIS but passed as per the PFA Act and the FPO.

Preservatives

The PFA Act, the BIS as well as the FPO have set the limit for preservatives as 750 ppm. Paulson Ketchup (1457), Sona Ketchup (898) and one unbranded sample (2812) were found with very high levels of benzoic acid.

Heinz Ketchup (87) was found with the lowest amount of preservative. But Heinz claimed that they are not adding benzoic acid. It could be that the spices added by the company have come up as benzoic acid in the test. CERS followed the method specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards, which was not found to be specific. But in compliance with the official and revised method prescribed by the BIS, there was no option. CERS has decided to make a representation to the BIS to review its method.

Lycopene

Lycopene found in tomatoes is known to have many health benefits. The more the lycopene, the more is the tomato content. Low levels of lycopene may be due to less quantity of tomato pulp or poor quality of tomatoes used. As such, even though none of the standards talks about the lycopene content of the sauce, we carried out the test to check the lycopene content of each brand. Madhur Ketchup (10.2mg/100gm) had the highest lycopene content followed by R.K.'s Ketchup (9.9mg/100gm) and Maggi Sauce (9.1mg/100gm).

The brands tested were Druk Tomato Sauce, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Kissan Tom Tom Tomato Sauce, Kissan Tom Tom Tomato Ketchup, Madhur Premium Tomato Sauce, Madhur Tomato Ketchup, Maggi Tomato Sauce, Maggi Tomato Ketchup, Nilon's Tomato Sauce, Nilon's Tomato Ketchup, Ohms Tomato Sauce, Paulson Tomato Ketchup, RK's Tomato Ketchup, Sona Tomato Ketchup and Tops Tomato Ketchup.