Mold toxins: popular ketchup crackles in the Öko test

The famous ketchup from Kraft Heinz is the loser test in the March issue of environmental test. According to German consumer advocates, ketchup exceeds the EU directive value for alternative mold toxins and achieves a multiple of this value. Recently cell and animal studies indicate that these mold toxins can damage genetic material, see above environmental test.

In addition, Heinz contains more than 25 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters. With a typical serving of ketchup, a three-year-old consumes more than half the WHO-recommended amount of sugar for an entire day.

A good taste does not need excessive sugar, because two products were convincing in all test categories and achieved the overall rating of “very good”: the organic ketchup from Zwergenwiese and this Penne tomato ketchup.

Cultivation and production

The consumer watchdog also criticizes the transparency of production steps: China is by far the world’s largest producer of tomatoes, and in Xinjiang, the main growing region, forced laborers also work in the fields, according to the United Nations. says Kirsten Scheicker of the company environmental test.

Six organic ketchup manufacturers were particularly exemplary when it came to revealing supply chains, revealing the path the tomato took from the field to the ketchup bottle. In terms of environmental and social manufacturing conditions, they are also ahead of the game on average.