Ketchup has been the American picnic and fast-food staple for years. Where ever you find hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fries, you’ll find ketchup. Every economic class, every race, and every religion in the United States all enjoy ketchup in abundant amounts. The H.J. Heinz Company, makers of the best-selling Heinz Ketchup reports selling 650 million bottles of ketchup in the world every year.
There’s no doubt about it: ketchup has much love. But this favored condiment that sits on the tables of cafes and diners across America has one important question associated with it: Should you refrigerate your ketchup?
The argument of whether you should refrigerate or not can be generational. Older people tend to lean towards no refrigeration. After all, some of the oldest members of society can remember days without easy access to refrigeration. They kept their ketchup in pantries. Today even restaurants store their large cans of ketchup outside of refrigerators. Fast food restaurants keep their packets and bottles of ketchup out on the counters and tables for days at a time, re-filling with warm stores of the red ooze that sit on the shelves in the back. So, apparently, you don’t have to refrigerate ketchup.
But should you refrigerate it. H.J. Heinz recommends refrigerating ketchup after opening to maintain quality. Many online authors claim that the acid in ketchup will break down the nutrients and flavor when not refrigerated. Also consider that when air hits ketchup, like any sealed product, the food will be affected in some way.
So what’s the right answer? If you buy smaller amounts of ketchup and eat it within about two weeks, then it is perfectly fine to keep the ketchup on a warm shelf. But if you buy large amounts, or only buy it once a month, and let it sit around a while, you should probably refrigerate it.
There’s still no decisive winner in the battle between refrigerated and un- refrigerated ketchup. You’ll need to decide for yourself what’s best for you and your family. Either way, we will all continue to love ketchup, and we will squeeze, squirt, and slop it on our favored foods.