The word ketchup comes from the Hokkien Chinese word kôechiap, referring to a pickled fish brine or sauce. It was used throughout China and Southeast Asia (including Indonesia and Malaysia) to enhance the savory flavor of dishes.

According to, traditional and common ingredients for this fermented paste were fish entrails, meat byproducts, and soybeans.

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Maria Serghiou

As early as 300 BC, ketchup began its transformation when British traders in the 1700s brought it back to Britain. As the British experimented with “perfecting” the sauce, ketchup grew more and more popular. Cookbooks even began to boast all kinds of ketchup recipes.

The once-simple fish sauce now had many different ingredients such as oysters, lemons, mussels, walnuts, and peaches, some of which were boiled down or left to sit with salt. However, it no longer included fish itself.

As long as it was a “spiced sauce” flavored with spices such as cinnamon, mustard seeds, or cayenne, it was considered ketchup.

But what about the tomatoes?

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Maria Xu

Tomatoes were not incorporated into ketchup until 1812, since tomatoes were often confused with the poisonous nightshade berries found in Britain. Both British and American people were initially resistant to the idea of tomato ketchup, skeptical of tomatoes as a safe food to eat.

Then, in the 1830s, Dr. John Cook Bennett from Ohio declared tomato ketchup as an all-purpose medicine to fight diarrhea and indigestion. By the end of the 1800s, ketchup, with the help of the not-so-trustworthy doctor, took off, appearing in many American households. 

Many companies attempted to commercialize the production of ketchup. But, due to the lack of quality control, it often contained mold, yeast, spores, and bacteria, some of which were deadly.

To make matters worse, some of the ingredients used such as coal tar or preservatives such as boric acid were directly harmful to one’s health.

How Did Heinz Come Out On Top?

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Maria Xu

Out of the many tomato ketchup competitors, Henry J. Heinz emerged triumphant when his chief food scientist G.F. Mason developed a preservative-free ketchup (and thus less-deadly ketchup) for production.

Heinz eventually beat out competitors and established itself as the leading tomato ketchup, its “57” label appearing in the vast majority of American homes.

From its humble Asian origins to its ubiquitous presence today, this tomato-y concoction has found its permanent spot in modern American pantries.