Ketchup - Fridge Or Cupboard?

Stu_of_Kunming said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

Stig said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

If once opened you don’t refrigerate ketchup you are risking food poisoning. There are no preservatives in ketchup and it will deteriorate quite quickly. There is no debate on this. If you’re happy to eat significantly deteriorating food then nobody can stop you but it needs to be refrigerated once open.

Salt is a preservative, sugar is a preservative, vinegar is a preservative. I'm happy that you accept there is no debate on this.

In certain quantities all of those will act as a preservative. In the quantities found in ketchup they won’t. Hence the manufacturers instructions to store in fridge once opened to the air. 

They make up 2/3rds of the ingredients in a low quality ketchup like Heinz, no one has got good poisoning from ketchup off a shelf. 

The quality of the product will deteriorate. It’s not just about food poisoning. 

Half the players misplace it anyway.

Cupboard for me 

MuttleyCAFC said:

Harvester don't put their sauces in the fridge. Surely they would if there was a health risk.

The bottles are filled daily from refrigerated catering sized bottles. 

Surely you get it out the fridge when you lay the table ?

MrOneLung said:

Surely you get it out the fridge when you lay the table ?

No need to, if you eat your dinner in the fridge.

ValleyGary said:

Dipping a hot chicken nugget in cold ketchup is a thing of beauty

Is that an euphemism?

MartinCAFC said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

Bedsaddick said:

addix said:

Bedsaddick said:

Cupboard.

Fridge is just weird.

You don't buy it from the chilled section in the supermarket . 

So if you open a tin of baked beans and only use half, you put them back in the cupboard too?

Ridiculous comparison . If you open a tin of beans it will not last very long , in or out of the fridge 

The point being made though is that once opened to the air pretty much all foodstuffs will go off. Preservatives either natural or artificial will slow down that process but it won’t stop it. Refrigerated ketchup will last 8 weeks before it starts to degrade in taste and colour. Once opened, kept out of the fridge it will start to turn in a day or two. It’s actually very simple. Ketchup needs to be stored in the fridge.  It will keep and remain in better condition. Stored at room temperature probably is safe due to those natural preservatives present but in reality to keep the product tip top you need to chill it once opening.

I don't agree ketchup starts to turn in a day or two left out. Fair enough if it's sitting in an uncovered pot I'd expect it to go off but the ketchup bottles are quite well protected with the plastic caps I'm with Beds on this one a lot of it is a ploy to make you keep buying it.

I quite like ketchup from a sachet perfect solution that you get the best of both worlds no cold taste and no risk of it going off as you'll use the whole thing in one go.

Once exposed to the air it will start to oxidise. Not enough to make a noticeable difference in a day or two but over the eight weeks suggested by Heinz it will have. Doubt it poses any risk to health but it’s completely wrong to think it won’t deteriorate from its original condition. This is based on chemistry and it’s not something that can be argued with. Once open it starts to deteriorate. That’s actually a fact. Refrigeration will slow this deterioration down but even then after eight weeks Heinz think their product will need replacing. No idea if that’s a marketing ploy or not but the rest is fact.

Next Friday Charlton players discuss the leave or remain argument. 

Stig said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

MartinCAFC said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

Bedsaddick said:

addix said:

Bedsaddick said:

Cupboard.

Fridge is just weird.

You don't buy it from the chilled section in the supermarket . 

So if you open a tin of baked beans and only use half, you put them back in the cupboard too?

Ridiculous comparison . If you open a tin of beans it will not last very long , in or out of the fridge 

The point being made though is that once opened to the air pretty much all foodstuffs will go off. Preservatives either natural or artificial will slow down that process but it won’t stop it. Refrigerated ketchup will last 8 weeks before it starts to degrade in taste and colour. Once opened, kept out of the fridge it will start to turn in a day or two. It’s actually very simple. Ketchup needs to be stored in the fridge.  It will keep and remain in better condition. Stored at room temperature probably is safe due to those natural preservatives present but in reality to keep the product tip top you need to chill it once opening.

I don't agree ketchup starts to turn in a day or two left out. Fair enough if it's sitting in an uncovered pot I'd expect it to go off but the ketchup bottles are quite well protected with the plastic caps I'm with Beds on this one a lot of it is a ploy to make you keep buying it.

I quite like ketchup from a sachet perfect solution that you get the best of both worlds no cold taste and no risk of it going off as you'll use the whole thing in one go.

Once exposed to the air it will start to oxidise. Not enough to make a noticeable difference in a day or two but over the eight weeks suggested by Heinz it will have. Doubt it poses any risk to health but it’s completely wrong to think it won’t deteriorate from its original condition. This is based on chemistry and it’s not something that can be argued with. Once open it starts to deteriorate. That’s actually a fact. Refrigeration will slow this deterioration down but even then after eight weeks Heinz think their product will need replacing. No idea if that’s a marketing ploy or not but the rest is fact.

Here's the thing though, if you're a ketchup up person you'll be using it most days. So, the tiny amount at the top of the bottle that would be exposed to oxidisation is automatically removed every time. This constant replenishment means that you're never getting sauce that's been exposed for anything remotely approaching the eight week use-by.

And if you’re not a ketchup person who only uses once a week like me ? 

ShootersHillGuru said:

As an interesting aside. Peanut butter will never “go off”. It has zero water content and bacteria need moisture. 

Peanut butter is "off" before it leaves the manufacturer. It is disgusting muck.

Hate the stuff, if anything I’ve got a phobia of it.

cafcfan said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

As an interesting aside. Peanut butter will never “go off”. It has zero water content and bacteria need moisture. 

Peanut butter is "off" before it leaves the manufacturer. It is disgusting muck.

Na peanut butter on toast is munch

Chunes said:

I have tried both.

When you put it in the fridge, the flavour of the ketchup shrinks. All you get is coldness and sweetness. 

At room temperature, you can appreciate the depth more. You get more of the tomatoes, the vinegar and the full roundness of the condiment. 

I would compare this to drinking cold red wine. You don't get the flavours.

Cupboard wins.

We have a winner! Spot on explanation. 

Cardinal Sin said:

MrOneLung said:

IT SAYS IT ON THE BOTTLE - keep refrigerated once opened. 

What is so hard to understand ?

seriously 

It says that purely so that Heinz and other manufacturers can claim no responsibility if you have left it in a cupboard for years and it spoils - although I think you would need to leave it a very, very long time before you saw that.

No, the best before date does that. 

JiMMy 85 said:

I grew up in a cupboard family. But somewhere along the line I betrayed them and switched to the fridge. I don't know how or why. It just happened. 

Exactly the same for me.