Title: 11 Ketchup Facts That Go Well With Everything | Mental Floss
Headings: 11 Ketchup Facts That Go Well With Everything
11 Ketchup Facts That Go Well With Everything
1. Tomatoes haven’t always been a key player.
2. European explorers took it home.
3. Americans may have added the tomatoes.
4. Ketchup was a miracle drug.
5. The early going was rough.
6. Heinz made way more than 57 varieties.
7. “Ketchup” was another branding coup from Heinz.
8. Heinz’s 57 has another non-marketing use.
9. Ketchup isn’t going to win any races.
10. Illinois is a hotbed of ketchup world records.
11. Americans really, really love ketchup.

Content: Ketchup earned a nasty reputation in the 1860s when unscrupulous makers used excessive preservatives and coal tar to give the condiment its iconic red coloring. In 1866, French cookbook author Pierre Blot penned a warning against ketchup, calling it " filthy, decomposed, and putrid ," and stating his convictions that "many cases of debility and consumption" come from "eating such stuff." You can’t keep a good condiment down, though. The Oxford Companion points out that by the close of the 19th century, tomato ketchup had become an American staple. A 1901 study found that Connecticut shoppers had access to a whopping 94 brands of ketchup. 6. Heinz made way more than 57 varieties. Henry J. Heinz saw an advertisement for 21 styles of shoes while riding a New York City train in 1896 and was inspired to create similar branding for his own company. Even though Heinz’s company manufactured more than 60 products, the condiment entrepreneur went with "57 Varieties," an amalgam of his own lucky number, 5, and his wife's, 7. 7. “