Featured Image Credit: Henrik Sorenson via Getty Images
Topics: UK Food
Rachael Davis
It’s one of those little household quirks that you might first have noticed after going to a friend’s house for tea as a child.
They keep their ketchup in the cupboard? But at home we keep ours in the cupboard! And vice versa for another kid.
You might have ventured to ask why, and the answer will have been the same in either scenario: because that’s where it’s kept!
As far as community-rending debates go, it’s a relatively cute one compared to the regular social furores we’re subjected to across everything from politics to who should’ve got the boot on Strictly.
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There’s a helpful note on most ketchup bottles saying “keep refrigerated”, and you’d think that would settle the score.
It stands to reason that food stays fresher for longer if it’s kept cool, so why wouldn’t that apply to ketchup?
Team Cupboard sees it differently, often pointing to the fact that restaurants and diners often keep their ketchup bottles out on the tables, far from the chilly confines of a fridge.
Seeing as ketchup is armed to the teeth with preservatives, it’s pretty well-equipped to fend for itself in room temperature conditions.
Not content with letting the little mystery endure through the ages, bona fide ketchup master Heinz has weighed in to settle the age-old quandary.
On this occasion, it’s a win for Team Fridge. Commiserations to Team Cupboard.
"There was only ever one correct answer, and we're happy to share with Heinz Tomato Ketchup lovers that our ketchup has to be in the fridge," Heinz representative Olivia Lennon told MailOnline.
"Although we're aware many Heinz Tomato Ketchup fans have been storing their ketchup in the cupboard, we do recommend refrigeration after opening.
"This is the best way to maintain the delicious tangy taste of our Heinz Tomato Ketchup that you know and love."
Team Cupboard may take solace in the fact that Heinz labels its sauce bottles with “For Best Results, Refrigerate After Opening”, thereby revealing it was on Team Fridge all along, and so its obvious bias must be taken into account.
We all need means to cope these days, don’t we? So there you go, Team Cupboard, that one’s on us.
Muddying the waters further, dietitian Dr Sarah Schenker told Which?: "Sometimes people keep ketchup in the fridge, simply because they prefer a chilled taste, but otherwise it doesn't need to be refrigerated."
Not content with that bombshell, sauce savant Schenker reeled off more sauce recommendations.
Where brown sauce is concerned, “it's vinegar-based, so keeping it in the fridge isn't necessary”.
Mustard is also cupboard safe, according to Dr Schenker, “although keeping it in the fridge may help to preserve its kick and punchiness for longer”.
Mayonnaise and salad cream, however, need to be kept in the fridge.
While Dr Schenker may have made an enemy of Team Fridge, at least those guys have got Heinz in their corner.