It is a case
of ‘mirror, mirror on the wall, which is the best ketchup of
them all’. Only this time it is no mirror but the consumer
Education & Research centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, which was trying
to find the best ketchup in the market. As many as 14 brands
sold nationwide & two unbranded ones were tested for colour,
consistency, flavour & absence of defects. Leading the pack was
Maggi ketchup with 79 points, with kissan ketchup (78) & Heinz
ketchup (78) following close behind. Among the regional brands
Madhur premium sauce & ketchup topped the list. The findings
reported in Insight, the CERC, magazine that Nylon’s sauce was
the ‘Best Buy’ in the national category because the price was
less than Maggi ketchup. The lycopene content- which is known to
have a lot of health benefits was also checked in the ketchups.
The more the tomato contents & low level of lycopene indicates
that the sauce or ketchup has less of tomato pulp or that poor
quality of tomato has been used. Masher ketchup had the highest
lycopene content followed by R.K’s tomato ketchup & magi sauces.