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News In Brief

Will new Heinz ketchup formula have you seeing red?

Daryl Paranada May 17, 2010

This summer, while you pour some Heinz ketchup over your fries, you might find that it tastes a little funny.

Pittsburgh-based Heinz is changing its ketchup recipe by using less salt to create a healthier condiment.

Company officials say the new recipe cuts 15 percent of sodium, and is the first significant change of the ketchup formula in nearly 40 years. But, officials assure ketchup fans that the new recipe has been thoroughly taste tested.

Recently, the Institute of Medicine recommended that the FDA force a gradual cutback in how much salt is allowed to be processed in foods.

Dr. Benjamin Jones, a flavor chemist at David Michael & Co., said in an interview with Kai Ryssdal that salt reduction is something we’d get used to.

Slowly reduce the salt, just bring it down a little bit at the time. And for the most part people will most likely not notice. This kind of thing was done in Britain several years ago with a great deal of success… We don’t start off our lives wanting a lot of salt. We learn to want a lot of salt because of what we eat. If we slowly reduce it, for most people it’s not going to be an issue.

Do you think consumers till take to less salty ketchup?

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