Dipping Sugar

My 2 year-old son uses a French fry as a utensil for eating ketchup. He dips a fry, sucks off the ketchup, then goes back to the well again with the same fry, repeating as needed until nothing is left but an inedible mess of slimed potato. Then he grabs a new fry and starts again.

And you thought food blogs were supposed to be appetizing.

I bring this up not to dissuade you from ever having children—that's your call—but to make a point. I'll give you a hint -- it's not the authentic tomato flavor he's after. Like most of us, what he really craves is sweet.

That's right, though cleverly disguised with just enough vinegar, ketchup is loaded with sugar, more dessert than dinner as far as nutrition is concerned. From barbecue sauce, to honey mustard dressing, to sweet and sour pork, to the French gastriche, the idea of mixing sugar and acid is not new. What is new is the habit of pouring it over everything we eat, made easier than ever by the introduction of the squeezable bottle. (Once upon a time you had to wait for your ketchup, but not anymore. Sales must have skyrocketed. )

So next time you pick up that red bottle, take a pause. It might not be your burger that's making you fat. It might be your ketchup.

Comments

[Suebob]

I agree with your son and I am 43. French fries are mostly a ketchup delivery device. Same with onion rings. I could save about 90 fat grams by just eating it off a spoon, but that wouldn't be right, would it?

[Kalyn Denny]

I relize you're kidding (and I teach school so I've seen kids do this too) but you're right about the sugar content in ketchup. For anyone who cares about such things (and I do) Heinz makes a great Ketchup called One Carb (soon to be renamed Heinz Low Sugar Ketchup). My brother did a blind taste test with his two kids and they both preferred it to regular ketchup.

[Mona]

What a hilarious observation about your son and how he eats ketchup. That's how I used to be with ketchup AND barbecue sauce, so you're dead on. I've now replaced them both with mostly mustard, not so high in the sugar.