How Much Ketchup is Sold Each Year?

A lot of ketchup is sold every year. Heinz® alone sells 11 billion single-serve packets and more than 650 million bottles every year. More than 2 million tons of tomatoes are squished by Heinz® each year.

Catch up with some facts:

  • Ketchup is classified under Part 155: Canned Vegetables at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

  • Ketchup wasn't originally a tomato-based product. Origins can be traced to a soy sauce-like substance in China. The English and Dutch brought it back to Europe, where the initial ketchup — or catsup — recipes included anchovies, ginger and lemon peel, among other ingredients.

  • The British didn't add tomatoes — ketchup in Britain traditionally is made from mushrooms.

  • The squeeze bottle for ketchup was invented by the same fellow who designed the peel-open packaging for Band-Aids®, Stanley Mason.

  • Ketchup isn't just a condiment — copper pots, pans and other items made of copper can be cleaned with ketchup.

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