Heinz or Hunt's Ketchup

I grew up on Heinz Ketchup…hands down, my favorite.  I suppose many of you have done the same.  I always thought Hunt’s was an inferior product…and perhaps in the past, it was.  No one can tell you which is BEST.  They can only tell you which they prefer. There are some measurable differences that may, or may not be important to you.

1.     My taste (age and COVID) has changed. I prefer less sweet and less salt these days.

2.     I enjoy a bit of vinegary tang in many foods and condiments.

3.     I prefer to not have a sweet condiment/sauce on savory items (with some exceptions)

So for my ketchup comments, I am going to limit it to French fries and hot dogs or hamburgers.

There are MANY ketchup products these days from Trader Joes, to Sprouts, to Sir Kensington, to YOU NAME IT. Some are only made from tomatoes, and others contain a variety of vegetables. My comparison is between two specific ketchup products made by two specific brands: Heinz and Hunt’s.

Heinz Certified Organic
Hunt’s 100% Natural

Good news: Neither of these have an high fructose corn syrup in them. If you believe the processed tomato paste used by one over the other is significant…go ahead. I do not. 

Sweetness:  I have often called ketchup, tomato syrup, because they are so sweet.

            Heinz  4gr of sugar per tablespoon
            Hunt’s 3gr of sugar per tablespoon

Sodium

            Heinz 190gr per tablespoon

            Hunts 150gr per tablespoon

 

As for taste, Heinz is definitely sweeter.  Hunt’s has a distinctively tangier taste.  I prefer the tangy taste of Hunts over the sweetness of Heinz…a CHANGE in my 70+ year old taste buds. Hunt’s 100% Natural is noticeably thicker than the old Hunt’s Ketchup. I like that.
I do not use ketchup on hot dogs or hamburgers. I do use it on fries. I now prefer Hunt’s 100% Natural over Heinz Organic (or the Heinz original, which contains HFCS).

I would challenge you to do a blind taste test...maybe you have changed preferences, too.