Heinz reduces sodium in its famous ketchup

Finally!  Consumer pressure and public health awareness is working. Food companies are responding to recent demands to reduce sodium content of processed foods.


Cdn. Heinz recipe stays, U.S. changes | Canada | News | Toronto Sun


Read the article in the link above.


US ketchup gets reduced sodium but Canada does not.


US drops from 190mg to 160mg sodium/ TBSP.


The Canadian version is already lower than the new US formula coming in at 140mg sodium per TBSP.


What the hell?  This is newsworthy?  Obviously I think it is because I'm writing about it, but not for the same reasons others are.


This stinks.  Are you kidding me?  A 30mg decrease is supposed to do what exactly?


When your meal already has over 1000 mg of sodium in it before adding ketchup, dropping your ketchup contribution of sodium to that meal by maybe 100mg sodium total (if one were to put around 3 TBSP of ketchup on their fried whatevers) is paltry. 


It's like saying, "instead of death by a thousand cuts I will be most generous and grant you.. death by 900 cuts!" (cue diabolical laugh). 


Now mind you if make your own oven fries and don't smother them in salt (every shake of the salt shaker is about 155mg sodium), and you don't go nuts with the ketchup, then there's not a sodium problem with ketchup.


Daily sodium levels: we need around 1400mg for normal healthy function and can tolerate up to 2300-2400mg/ day. 1 teaspoon of salt has 2325mg sodium.


Endurance athletes can lose 1000 - 2000mg of sodium per hour so clearly the daily sodium needs for endurance exercise is greater than the common 1400 mg/ day.  But this sodium replacement is needed during the endurance event rather than from super high doses in foods before and after.. so no.. just because you might be a jogger or cyclist doesn't mean todays high sodium foods are justified..