I thought about this while driving past a “Greasy Spoon” diner that appeared to be closed most of the time.
We always point out to MilliCal (our daughter), when we visit places like Sturbridge Village and Plymouth Plantation, the importance of foods that can last long periods of time without refrigeration. People back then didn’t have refrigeration (we’ll ignore cases like ice caves and the like – most people didn’t have those options), so it was important to have foods that didn’t require cooling to keep from going bad. So you had cheese and honey and salted and smoked meats, then later effective home canning. Some sauces, like Worcestershire, can keep forv a long time even after being opened.
Ketchup can’t. Out containers all tell us to Refrigerate After Opening. McDonald’s and Burger King give theirs out in little sealed packets that’ll stay fresh until opened. But a lot of places just leave theirs out in bottles. Nice, unrefrigerated bottles that don’t get stored in cold for the night. In fact, some places keep them right at the window, where thety also get plernty of sun.
It doesn’t bother me that Wendy’s uses a big unrefrigerated bag with a pump, or that Appleby’s has unrefrigerated bottles on the tables. They’re high-traffic eateries with fast turnover of their condiments. Small, heavily patronized private diners are OK, too.
But that Greasy Spoon that’s only open for lunch hour, and doesn’t see a lot of business even then. That small-airport diner that’s only open when private planes are coming by. They seem to keep that ketchup out there, festering, for a long time. What happens then? How often do theyy throw it out? What are the telltale signs of ketchup gone bad? Do customers ever get sick from this?
Ketchup usually has high levels of acidity from the vinegar and tomatoes and high levels of sugar, both of which have a considerable preservative effect. I don’t think ketchup will spoil all that quickly. Anecdotal evidence: I’ve never refrigerated a bottle of Heinz ketchup, and they seem perfectly edible after sitting in my kitchen for months after being opened.
I understood that they tell you to refrigerate some to preserve the taste for as long as possible not for health reasons. Health regulations wouldn’t allow restaurants to leave sauces out if it was unhealthy. Some places do stick every bottle in the fridge overnight but that is a nonsenxe anyway as they come out all day during the day.
Mrs. Jackson absolutely abhors cold ketchup. Therefore, in our houshold, that condiment is always stored in the pantry at room temperature. We have never had a bottle of ketchup “go bad” (at least, not as far as we know. It’s possible that bad ketchup is behind the night time noises in the attic, but I doubt it). I think patrons of the OP’s greasy spoon are safe from a condiment standpoint. I wouldn’t order the meatloaf, though.
The pH of ketchup is such that refrigeration isn’t really necessary. I’ve kept open bottles in the pantry for months with no problems. Even at a Greasy Spoon, the turnover rate for condiments has to be pretty high.
Heinz says: "Because it is a very acidic product, ketchup does not spoil easily. "
They go on to recommend refrigeration to maintain quaility, but as long as you don’t buy it in one-gallon jugs and use it at a reasonable pace, it’s perfectly fine at room temperature for a couple months.
One caveat - Ketchup can ferment. You’ll know this by darkening of the color and formation of bubbles. Not normally a problem unless it’s either really old or has been out in the sun. I’ve never experienced this at home, but have seen it at a couple of “greasy spoon” type places.
I can tell you that at the greasy spoon place where I work part-time, the ketchup bottles used to be left out all day (refrigerated at night). It was kept in plastic bottles with twisty-tops. When it got warm enough, we started having a problem with lots of air bubbles that you could see in the bottles and the bottles started expanding so that when someone untwisted the top it would sometimes kind of explode. It didn’t taste or look bad if I recall correctly, but we started keeping it in the fridge.
Much of the commercial mayonnaise is made with either pasteurized eggs or with commercial substitutes for raw eggs. And good mayonnaises have acidity (lemon juice or white vinegar) that helps inhibit this.
Manufacturers try pretty hard to prevent such spoilage in their product.
I have seen this exactly once in my life. The odd thing, though, is it was a previously unopened bottle. Made a whish when I twisted the cap off and you could see bubbles in the ketchup. The waitress said she’d never in all her years seen this.
Will the ketchup ever reach a “hazardous” age? I am thinking of the refill of each ketchup bottle, and that half inch layer on the bottom that has been there for years.
(Ketchup. Catsup. Catchup. There. I had to say it.)
