HEINZ
Seems like just yesterday Heinz put out that commemorative “100 years in Canada” bottle of ketchup. Then the company sold its century-old processing plant in Leamington, the nation’s tomato capital, and Facebook caught wind. Now patriotic Canadians are ditching the ketchup in droves, though some Leamington locals warn against boycotting all Heinz products since many are still made there. Either way, Heinz’s conventional ketchup leaves a lot to be desired. True, the Canadian version doesn’t contain contentious high-fructose corn syrup. (The feds don’t allow it in our ketchup.) But the sugar comes partly from sugar beets, a highly genetically modified crop engineered to withstand direct applications of glyphosate. Not great when the herbicide’s been classified as a likely human carcinogen and tied to killing off the threatened monarch butterfly’s milkweed food supply. You’re better off with Heinz’s organic ketchup, made with certified organic ingredients except for the added “natural flavouring.” As in the conventional version, the tomatoes now come from California and are bottled in Ohio. Too bad the organic version doesn’t come in glass.
SCORE: N
PRESIDENT’S CHOICE
Loblaw has been smeared in controversy since an internal memo was leaked last week suggesting that French’s was taken off shelves because it was “cannibalizing” sales of the grocer’s in-house brand, President’s Choice. Loblaw now says, “Customer preference was the single reason the product was removed from our shelves, and the single reason it is back.” They need to get their story straight. One customer service rep told me that both the organic and conventional ketchups are made with “100% Canadian-grown” tomatoes. Another said just the conventional product is made with Canadian tomatoes. Meanwhile, Loblaw media reps say both the conventional and organic brands are made with California tomatoes, adding that PC’s regular ketchup is otherwise made in Canada (not so for the organic). Kevin Groh, VP corporate affairs for Loblaw, tells NOW that in that respect French’s is “not more Canadian,” since “French’s is made in America with Canadian tomatoes,” which won’t be true for long (see French’s). Groh says thanks to NOW’s findings, they’re working to correct the info shared by consumer relations.
SCORE: NN
FRENCH’S
A month ago most people would have said, “What, French’s makes ketchup?” Yes, since last spring the yellow mustard giant has branched out. French’s ketchup recently surged in popularity when word got out that the Ohio-based company had stepped up and started using nothing but Leamington, Ontario-grown tomatoes in its Canadian ketchup. French’s makes the tomato paste here, and currently ships its retail ketchup to Ohio for bottling (restaurant-grade gets bottled in T.O.). However, French’s has just announced that it will soon bottle all its Canadian ketchup in Ontario. As with all Canadian ketchup, there’s no high-fructose corn syrup, but they add “natural flavour.” French’s says its sugar comes from cane and not gmo beets. However, like rest of the ingredients, it’s neither organic nor fair trade. Justicia for Migrant Workers would love to see French’s back stronger regulatory protection for migrant tomato workers. Bonus: French’s donates one meal to food banks for every bottle sold.
SCORE: NNN
SIMPLY NATURAL/ORGANICVILLE/HONEY BUNNY ORGANIC
Not everyone’s going to agree with my rating system placing organic above local, but while it’s lovely that French’s is using Canadian tomatoes, those field tomatoes are grown conventionally, with synthetic pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers. Not great for the under-protected migrant workers picking them, or for wildlife – particularly in light of the recent auditor general report stating the feds have allowed pesticides on the market without adequate health and safety data. (Case in point: the bee-harming neonic imidacloprid allowed on tomatoes.) The problem is that Canadian-grown organic tomatoes are in short supply. Health stores carry a variety of certified organic brands of ketchup, all of which use American-grown organic tomatoes as well as organic sweeteners (like agave in Organicville and honey in Alberta’s Honey Bunny), vinegars and spices. Locavores might want to wait for Thomas’ Utopia Brand to release its locally sourced organic ketchup this fall. Bill Thomas says they’re working on acquiring more organic acreage in Ontario as we speak.
SCORE: NNNN
DIY KETCHUP
Don’t let Heinz hijack your imagination. Ketchup existed long before corporations convinced us it had to be branded to be good. The web is jammed with recipes for classic tomato ketchup, but it comes in countless other incarnations, too. The Brits do an earthy mushroom ketchup. Growing up in Quebec, we dolloped chunkier red or green ketchup maison (home-style ketchup) on all sorts of dishes. (Check out the Quebec-style green ketchup recipe at food.com.) Then there’s super-nutritious, delicious – and easy – fermented ketchup, combining all your organic ingredients in a jar with some liquid whey (from draining whole milk yogurt) or sauerkraut juice. Just let it sit on the counter for a couple of days before moving to the fridge (theprairiehomestead.com has a good recipe, to which I added some garlic powder). Now your ketchup is probiotic-rich goodness. And if you wait to make it with organic tomatoes grown in your own yard, you’ll have the most local and environmentally friendly ketchup around, hands down.
SCORE: NNNNN
