Is Heinz Ketchup Vegan?
A vegan diet can come in handy for all those who are interested, and you do not have to become obsessive about it, you can try it, and if it does not go well, you can quit. No one can judge you, for sure. A diet and life choices are personal, and no one can tell you what is good or bad for you.
But if you want to get involved in this type of animal-free diet (when you are a vegan you cannot eat not just meat, but any product that comes from an animal), it will for sure allow you to “reverse” your body and metabolism in a relatively short time. It is ethical, and it can have health benefits, of course, this does not exclude a balance and nutritive food choices.
So besides the ethical reasons, you can have so many health benefits when you try a vegan diet, even for a short period of time.
Some of the additional advice is that you must at all times keep an eye on portion sizes and avoid eating too many processed carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta and white rice (many vegans and vegetarians make this mistake, and you do not have to do it). A vegan diet can be a good way to lose weight while improving the quality of health and preventing the development of various diseases.
Now, even when you have a well-developed vegan diet and when you are able to eat right, what happens to all those additional “ingredients” in your kitchen? We are talking about the toppings, sauces, flavors etc. – and we raise the question of how can you know that the Ketchup that you want to put on your vegan sandwich is actually vegan? All of us adore Ketchup, kids, especially, but can it be a part of a vegan diet?
Do you began to use some other brand or you can stick to the old and a well-known brand with information about its ingredients?
There are so many questions, and we are here to give you the answers. Today we want to find out is the Ketchup from well-known brand Heinz vegan?
The favorite Ketchup for all meals, made out of tomatoes
Are you one of those who can’t imagine a ketchup-free meal? We guess you are, even if you are on a vegan diet, this item so popular that so many people put it on all of their meals. Any meal that has a bland taste you can lift up with some Ketchup, and we believe that all of us could agree upon.
Does this mean that you are a big fan of tomatoes or are you just nourishing your sugar addiction? This is not such an unreasonable question, since Ketchup is traditionally made with sugar, and this implies the Heinz Ketchup also.
There is no doubt that the Heinz Ketchup tastes great, that its marketing and packaging are amazing, but nothing (from a nutritional point of view) can replace ordinary tomato sauce or tomato juice in any way, but the matter of health is something else, and we will speak of it later.
We can all agree that the Heinz Ketchup has a perfect taste, it is sweet and sour at the same time, and able to lift up any bland taste, it goes well with potatoes, on pizza, burgers, etc. All that you can eat become better with it, and it is the mandatory detail on all fast food items, but in our refrigerates.
It is most notably associated with the USA, but this is not the country of its origin, as many think. It comes from Asia (some say South Asia), and then came to Britain, and from there spread around the world, and now every country has its own manufacturer of Ketchup.
In the next few sections, we will take a good look in the ingredients list and try to find out is the most popular Ketchup in the world, the Heinz Ketchup vegan?
We will take a look at all kinds of this Ketchup, in a sense, that maybe there is one that is made strictly for vegan consumers.
Ingredients
Not just the Heinz Ketchup, the majority of brands make them with same “base” ingredients, some use cheaper alternatives, others make some expensive, but it all comes down to the taste. Some brands like to say that it tastes like tomatoes, otters focus on other “flavors”.
The majority of kinds of Ketchup around the world are made out of water, tomato concentrate (depending on a brand this paste is made in different ways, with more or fewer tomatoes, that can be cooked, dried or raw), sugar, vinegar, salt, modified corn starch, citric acid, stabilizers, potassium sorbate preservative, “natural flavor”, and dry matter (all foods are made out of wet ingredients, like water and dry ones).
As the most common and mandatory part in refrigerators worldwide, there are so many kinds of it, even the ones that come from the same brand, like in the case of the Heinz Ketchup.
Some say that this food item can be healthy, because it has a large amount of lycopene in it, a low-calorie product that can also be used in the diet.
This type of Ketchup is sold worldwide, and annually this company produces eleven billions of packages of this Ketchup.
When this Ketchup made its way on the market, the producers did not use tomatoes, and they included them later on in the production.
One interesting fact about the Heinz Ketchup is that you can tap it in such way that it drops the product faster (some say that that place is the number 57 on the bottle. Try it).
Some say, and there is one research that confirms this theory, is that the success of this brand lies in the fact that is focused on simple tastes, they do not burden with making them fancy or extravagant.
The company states that they buy the best quality tomatoes, over two million tons each year.
Is Heinz Ketchup Vegan?
So, as we have said, the main ingredient of the Heinz Ketchup (or any other for that matter) is tomatoes. The quantity varies, but this vegetable is, of course, vegan. Beside it, in the Ketchup, we can find vinegar along with some spices.
For now on, every one of these elements is considered to be vegan.
In the case of the Heinz Ketchup, there is some amount of sugar, and many are not sure is it vegan or not. Now, the cane sugar can be vegan if the producer makes it vegan, it all depends. Some manufacturers use granular carbon to make sure that their product remains vegan.
So, now you know – the Heinz Ketchup is vegan because it is made out of the ripe tomatoes (that are made into the concentrate), vinegar that is distilled, salt and onion and garlic powder are also used along with some natural flavorings. All vegan. Some other spices are added, depending on the kind of Heinz Ketchup.
For those that worry, this producer makes a sugar free ketchup, where they instead of sugar add sucralose, and many claims that it has the same, almost identical taste like a regular one. Just to add up, the sucralose is also vegan, since it comes from a non-animal source. It is natural.
Those who oppose these claims say that sucralose is extremely unhealthy that it causes cancer that it has been tested on animals, so many ethical vegans choose not to eat it.
This brand also makes organic Ketchup that is a bit pricier than the regular ones. But if you are not just interested in being vegan, and you want to be healthy as well, you should buy organic-
Is Heinz Ketchup Healthy?
Many of you are convinced that Ketchup contains very few calories, but if you analyze the composition in detail, the following conclusions are reached. Forty calories and not that big a figure, but that only applies to two tablespoons of Ketchup. Realistically, who among us only eats two tablespoons of Ketchup with a meal?
Regarding the ingredients that Ketchup has, it can be said that its composition is quite variable, depending on the recipe. Generally contains tomato, vinegar, sugar, but can also contain onion, pepper and salt. All of this is not bad for you, but ingredients listed in Ketchup cannot be placed in the group of harmful components.
Ketchup contains fats and cholesterol; the only thing we need to pay attention to is sodium. Because we often tend to consume large quantities of Ketchup with some food (people who cover their entire meals with it), this is associated with uncontrolled sodium intake (avoid it and use it in smaller portions).
When it comes to nutritional values, there is not much to say about Ketchup, except for a large amount of sodium and sugar; it contains nothing else that may be harmful to the body.
While 100g of Ketchup has a not so terrible 70kcal, it contains 16g of sugar. The recommended daily dose of added sugar for an adult is around 25g and preschoolers 16g. 100g of Ketchup also contains 2g of salt. The recommended daily dose of salt for preschoolers is up to 3g.
When buying Ketchup, choose a brand, and in this case, both for vegans and non-vegans, the Heinz Ketchup can be the right thing.
Do not buy a variety of high sodium or preservative brands, they want to mimic the taste, but they are cheaper and have less quality. The most important thing is that Ketchup is of organic origin, but it is certainly the best one you prepare at home.
Can Ketchup be marketed as healthy because it contains lycopene? Thermally processed tomatoes contain lycopene (an antioxidant that is amazingly beneficial for your health; it is used to fighting cancer cells in your body).
But, do not think that you will take an enormous amount of this substance – by comparison, a spoonful of Ketchup contains 2.5 mg lycopene and a glass of tomato juice 22 mg. So there is one more health benefit for all those who want to eat it.
Summary
The truth is, Ketchup is everywhere it is the Universal item in every kitchen. We love to eat it with anything, we put it on French fries, put it on pizza, on burgers, and every meal in between.
With the not-so-unusual four tablespoons of Ketchup, along with French fries and a burger, the kid brought in a full daily recommended dose of added sugar and salt.
All in all, ketchup yes, but in a strictly controlled quantity and not as a substitute for fresh tomatoes. It is not a substitute, and it is an addition to your food that has to be balanced, healthy, and filled with vegetable and fruit.
You can eat “homemade” Ketchup that you made on your own, by mixing minced tomatoes with basil or oregano, olive oil and some salt. It will taste amazing, and it will be 100 per cent vegan, just like you want it if you are on a vegan diet.
But, if you do not want to make your Ketchup and go through all that trouble, you can freely choose the Heinz, because it is vegan!
Besides, we can say for sure it has an amazing taste, and an incredible and easy to use packaging.