Tomato ketchup is one of the most staples of any kitchen around the world. It is served with burgers, fries, sandwiches and snacks. But its history is almost shocking: tomato products were once marketed as medicines.
Tomatoes were more and more being discussed in the United States in the 1830s for health benefits supposedly.
Dr. John Cook Bennett, a US physician who was of the opinion that tomatoes had medicinal uses, too, was one of the prominent proponents of those ideas. He claimed that tomato preparations could help with several digestive and other health problems.
These claims helped create a short-lived craze around tomato-based remedies. Instead of being sold as just food, concentrated tomato preparations were marketed as health products. One particularly unusual form was the “tomato pill.”
The pills were marketed as remedies for indigestion, diarrhea and jaundice. At a time when medical knowledge was much more limited than it is today, products advertised as natural cures could quickly attract public attention.
The success of such claims has also provided opportunities for questionable businesses. Interest in tomato remedies led other manufacturers to sell their own tomato-based products and make more broad health claims.
Eventually, skepticism over the so-called tomato cure came and the medicinal craze waned.
The relationship between tomatoes and ketchup is actually more subtle than the common perception suggests. The first versions of ketchup were not necessarily the same as the ones people know and love now.
Ketchup itself is very old and came from fermented sauces in Asia. Tomato ketchup was invented later and then gradually became the dominant flavor.
Commercial food producers developed tomato ketchup in the 19th century. Vinegar, sugar and spices made up the sweet, tangy flavor that we find popular today. Technology in food processing and preservation made ketchup a commercially viable product as well.
By the time ketchup was established as a household condiment, its association with medicine had largely disappeared. Instead of being promoted as a cure, it became something people simply added to their meals.
The story is of course a fascinating example of how food and medicine were in the past closely connected. It also shows how quickly health claims could influence consumer demand before medical evidence and product regulation were established.
Ketchup today is a condiment instead of medicine. But the next time you squeeze some on fries it is worth remembering that tomatoes were once in a different place in the health world.
From tomato pills to fast-food packets, the story of this day-to-day sauce is surely a little trickier than you think.
