How Important Is Your Ketchup?

Heinz is changing its formula for the first time in 40 years in order to lower its salt content.  People are worried, nervous, fearful that the ketchup they are used to will never be the same.

“Leave the ketchup alone,” said Heinz fan, Patrick Johnson, of Brooklyn. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

“I’m so used to the ketchup the way it is — why would they change it?” said Joe Oliva of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, who has been eating the ketchup for nearly eight decades. “I’m 80 years old, and I haven’t died yet. It’s really hard for me to eat without salt. I think it’s infringing on our rights!”

The change has been in the works for two years, and happens just as politicians like New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg have put forth a “Salt Reduction Initiative” to encourage companies to put out healthier products.

The new Heinz ketchup recipe will contain about 15 percent less sodium, dropping the amount per tablespoon from 190 to 160 milligrams. Heinz will also make changes to the secret spices.

“As we reduced the sodium, we rebalanced the special secret spices,” [Heinz spokeswoman Jessica] Jackson said.

By summer, it’s all over for the recipe we’ve known most of our lives.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.