Fun Facts: Was ketchup sold as medicine?

One of the drandom curious cats most striking in the history of world gastronomy has to do with the ketchup that during a very distant time was sold as medicine. Here we explain what motivated this belief, as well as the origins of this sauce.

Ketchup originally arose in ancient china, but it was a very different sauce from what we know today because it included caramel-colored anchovies for its preparation. However, in the 19th century, the English modified this recipe to add tomatoes, which at the time were considered poisonous.

In The Truth News we have told you the best fun facts on various topics so you always have something to talk about. For example, we previously revealed that there are two countries in the world where the sale of Coca Cola, the soft drink that dominates the industry internationally, is prohibited.

Why was ketchup sold as medicine?

However, it was in 1834 that the British doctor John Cook Bennett popularized the belief that the tomato was good to remedy certain illnessessuch as diarrhea, gastritis and other stomach ailments, and even rheumatoids, for which reason the ketchup began to be sold as medicine in pharmacies.

In fact, Cook Bennett wrote a book on ketchup recipes to take advantage of its supposed medicinal qualities. Soon after, he patented a product that was basically ketchup tablets that he sold as a medicine against various diseases. This brought him significant economic income at that time.

It was in the late 1850s when ketchup was discontinued as medicine since it was openly proven that it had no healing properties. Later, in 1876, Henry J. Heinz he took the recipe for this product and began to mass-produce it under his last name, which today is one of the most popular ketchup brands in the world.

It may interest you: Heinz unmasks restaurants with a new campaign: Do they sell fake ketchup?

What does the word ketchup mean?

As mentioned, the word is of Chinese origin and comes from kôechiap, which means “pickled or brined fish sauce, due to the ingredients used for its original preparation in Asia.

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