Ketchup: Packet or Bottle?

My friend has made that assertation that the ketchup in the little packets that they serve you at fastfood places taste better than what you buy in a bottle at the supermarket or what they might serve in the pump version at the fastfood place. Myself, I do not think there is much, if any, of a difference. Of course, this is assuming like brands for the packet/bottle question.

So, do you find a difference in taste? If so, which do you like better? And why?

These apply mostly to restaurants, but I have been to some homes where I would not touch the catsup bottle for love nor money.

  1. Consider that the catsup in the bottle or the pump is exposed to air (that may affect the taste), not to mention the fact that the dried-up clotty stuff on the outside of the bottle or nozzle is none too appetizing.

  2. Not to mention the fact that, in a restaurant or someone else’s home, I have no idea if someone stuck a knife in the bottle to break the surface tension and get the catsup flowing (Urg, I’ve seen this! Brrrrrrr!).

  3. In some restaurants where I have been employed, we had to combine the catsup from half-empty bottles to make full ones. (Likely against health laws in some localities, but some bosses and employees just don’t care.)

  4. Nor do I know the cleanliness of the cloth that another waitperson may have used to wipe off the botleneck and cap.

At home, I will use bottled catsup. Eating out at a baseball game or restaurant, I avoid the bottles or bulk barrels with the pump nozzles. I prefer to use the little packets, and always keep some handy with me. (Ditto with jam or syrup, and prefer to patronize restaurants that use individual serving packets. In a more formal restaurant, I am not likely to use catsup on something like sirloin.) The taste may pretty much be the same, but I know where that packet’s been. After dating a restaurant inspector and hearing horror stories, I don’t go out to eat much anymore (but that’s another thread, best left to the ActionNews reporter at 6 pm. Ever notice they do those reports aound dinner time?).