Ketchup market check: Intransparent origin, lots of sugar and hardly organic

This time, for the barbecue season, the NGO took on ketchup and, when surveying supermarkets, found a lack of transparency regarding the origin of the main ingredient, “tomatoes”. Around 70 percent of them remained unknown, and if they were known, they “often come from dry growing areas in the south” where massive irrigation is necessary.

• You might also be interested in: “Linked to rainforest destruction and child labor” – Nougat spreads tested

Massive irrigation means that a total of over 500 liters of water are used for one kilogram of ketchup, from the cultivation of the tomatoes to their processing, it was said in a press release. While one kilogram of Austrian tomatoes has a water footprint of just 33 liters, the global average is 214 liters. The water footprint is all the water that is used or polluted to produce a product.

“Water is a limited resource. The climate crisis is exacerbating water shortages in growing regions, which in the long term not only affects the environment but also agriculture and thus the production of our food. The excessive cultivation of tomatoes for export in regions already plagued by water shortages is therefore highly problematic. This makes it all the more important that ketchup bottles clearly indicate where the tomatoes come from,” Greenpeace expert Sebastian Theissing-Matei was quoted as saying.

High sugar content

Greenpeace also found the high sugar content in ketchup striking, which is almost always second on the list of ingredients after tomatoes – in classic recipes it makes up about a fifth. The organic share of ketchup on Austrian shelves was on average only 13 percent.

• Read also: Greenpeace: Frozen vegetables with good climate balance, criticism of Iglo

“The lack of transparency about the origin of the tomatoes and sugar for the ketchup is unacceptable. We all have a right to know where the ingredients in our food come from,” said Theissing-Matei. According to Greenpeace, the manufacturers were reluctant to provide information, with major brands such as Felix and Heinz not providing any information about the countries of origin. The origin of the tomatoes was only stated on the packaging for ten percent of the products tested. According to Greenpeace, this is problematic because the majority of vegetables worldwide either travel from long distances such as China or come from dry areas in the south.

Due to the lack of transparency regarding the origin of the ingredients, the best mark in the market check is only “satisfactory”. Billa Plus performed best in the product range comparison.