October 11: Henry J. Heinz Born

On 11 October 1844, Henry J. Heinz was born.

At the age of twelve, Heinz was distributing produce from his family’s farm directly to grocery stores. By the age of twenty-five, Heinz had a partnership in a horseradish business that thrived for close to a decade. In the same year that the horseradish business fell into bankruptcy, Heinz began another company – the H.J. Heinz Company. The company was quickly well received because of its introduction of the tomato in ketchup, which ultimately led to the H.J. Heinz Company becoming the world’s most popular distributor of ketchup.

Ketchup is most commonly known for being a North American, tomato-based product. However, its main ingredient was originally pickled fish and originated in China. Ketchup was later introduced to Indonesia and the Philippines where it was then adopted by the British – only to become a staple in many British households. It wasn’t until the 1800s that tomatoes were actually introduced into the ketchup recipe. Much of the world regarded tomatoes as a poisonous fruit for centuries and were reluctant to consume it.

Although tomatoes are now widely accepted as a staple in many cultures’ cuisines, it is still considered a controversial fruit. Like other popular foods such as the potato, bell pepper, and eggplant – the tomato is a part of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family. Nightshades contain alkaloids which can have adverse effects on muscle, digestion, and joint function. Many people are not sensitive to these foods and can eat them without worry; however, some people have sensitivities and are advised to avoid nightshade foods altogether.

Kristie Skavdahl

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Meet the Author: Kristie Skavdahl

I am currently a full time student at Schoolcraft College. I will be transferring to Eastern Michigan University this winter to pursue a degree in Human Sexuality and Psychology. I am interested in existentialism and surrealism. My hobbies include getting lost in films and dreaming. I also enjoy making crafts and vegan treats.

4 Responses

  1. Although ketchup is now a staple in many American households, other companies did not always adhere to naming their product “ketchup”. Deviations from the name originate worldwide but competition remained between Del Monte catsup and Heinz ketchup. In 1981, under Reagan’s administration, “Ketchup” was acknowledged in school lunchrooms across the United States temporarily leaving Del Monte unable to sell their “catsup” to lunchrooms nationally. Soon thereafter, Del Monte renamed their condiment to “ketchup”. Benefiting from this mishap, Heinz corporate now leads the Ketchup industry with controlling an astonishing 61% of the market, leaving Del Monte with a diminishing 5%. The founder of Heinz corporate, John Henry Heinz, once said, “To do a common thing uncommonly brings success,” and this bears true for his company today.

  2. Zach Yates says:

    It is not impractical to be wary of foods from the nightshade family, such as the tomato, but throughout history many other foods have been surrounded by foolish and illogical superstition. In many parts of Europe, eggshells were believed to be used by witches to sail into the ocean and cause storms if they were not cracked and the yolks were used to tell the fortune of that year’s crops. In Europe and America, wishbones are broken and the person with the longer half is said to have good luck for the year. In addition, one of the most popular superstitions surrounding food is that throwing rice at weddings is meant to bring prosperity and happiness.

  3. Jennifer Orzel says:

    Just as they were not always used in recipes for ketchup, tomatoes were not always used in pizza recipes, either. In fact, using tomato as a pizza topping was the innovation that gave us what we know as pizza today. For a while after being brought from the Americas to Europe in the 1500s, it was (as stated in the article) viewed as poisonous. A few centuries later, in the late 1700s, tomatoes were commonly added by the poor around Naples to yeast-based flat bread. The popularity of this dish grew and soon it turned into a tourist attraction there.

  4. Matt Solomon says:

    Tomatoes were first domesticated a very long time ago; Southern Mexico was cultivating tomatoes at least since 500 BCE, and it is possible that it had been done before then. Interestingly enough, the Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States believed that people who ate tomato seeds were given powers of divination. And, even more interesting in my opinion, as of 2010 the world’s largest consumer of tomatoes by weight is China, with almost four times as many tomatoes eaten as second place, held by the USA. I guess this just adds to the fact that tomatoes are a very strange vegetable (or is it a fruit? Or both at the same time? Let’s just go with that and call it a day.)

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