k(ew)tchup pills 🤮

i almost forgot…

to send (and write) this today

so let’s quickly get to

a mind-blo(ew)ing fact:

your favorite fry-dunking condiment

(yes, i am talking about ketchup)

was once... a medicine!

you heard that right

ketchup went from pharmacy to fast food

(talk about a career change)

let’s go back in time a little:

it's the 1830s, you've got a tummy ache

do you reach for pepto-bismol or eno?

nooooo! you grab... ketchup pills! xD

(suddenly, your burger doesn't seem so unhealthy)

but wait, it gets weirder

'cause this "ketchup" wasn't even tomatoey

it was made of... wait for it...

mushrooms! 🍄

(yeah, wrap your taste buds around that)

these funky fungi pills were all the rage

people thought they could cure anything

from stomach aches to baldness

(spoiler: they couldn't)

but wait, where are the tomatoes?

hold your horses, we're getting there!

first, let's take a trip to southeast asia

way back in the 17th century

sailors discovered a funky fish sauce

the chinese called it "kê-tsiap"

this fishy concoction made its way to europe

where they tried to recreate it with...

walnuts, mushrooms, even oysters!

(suddenly, tomato ketchup doesn't sound so bad)

fast forward to the 1830s

enter our tomato hero: dr. john cooke bennet

he looked at ketchup and thought:

"needs more lycopene"

suddenly, tomatoes were the new wonder drug

claimed to cure:

• diarrhea (ironic, given some fast food experiences)

• indigestion (plot twist: it might cause it too)

• jaundice (because nothing says "healthy liver" like red sauce)

bennet packed all that tomatoey goodness into pills

'cause apparently, drinking ketchup was a step too far

(thank goodness, or our fries would be lonely)

these miracle pills were all the rage

until people realized... they didn't really work

(shocked pikachu face)

but the tomato ketchup idea stuck around

and in 1876, good ol' henry j. heinz

gave ketchup its final glow-up

he added more vinegar, making it last longer

which meant no more dodgy preservatives

bye-bye, ketchup medicine!

hello, french fry's best friend!

and there you have it, chaos lovers!

(respect respect, get it? nvm)

the saucy truth about ketchup

stay curious, stay saucy

and always keep your condiments... chaotic!

-your chief ketchup historian and chaos coordinator

p.s. got a food fact you want us to dig into?

hit that reply button!

pps: if you enjoyed this, squirt (i didn’t just say this) it forward to a friend.

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