Sugar in the Ketchup

tomato, the higher quantity is due to the presence of added sugar. No requirement for carbohydrates has been specified in FSS Regulations or BIS. All the brands contained a significant amount of carbohydrates, the lowest being in Kissan and the highest in Tasty Treat. Sugar (sucrose) gives a natural taste and uniform texture to the product, in addition to thick density. The addition of sugar in ketchup may be for balancing the taste of sourness of tomatoes. It also acts as a preservative. The quantity of sugar should be neither very high nor very low. No limit or requirement has been set by the national standards. Sugar was found between 17.64 per cent and 29.62 per cent. The highest percentage was in Tasty Wonders and the lowest in Maggi. Specific Gravity (at 26 degrees C) The specific gravity (SG) is the ratio of density of a substance to the density of a reference substance; alternately, it is the ratio of the mass of a substance to the mass of a reference substance for the same given volume. As per BIS, specific gravity should be a minimum 1.111 when tested at 26 degrees C. All the brands conformed to the minimum requirement

of 1.111 of specific gravity. Added Synthetic Colours Synthetic colouring material is the artificial colour that makes the product retain the original colour. FSS Regulations do not allow added colours. We carried out tests for brilliant blue, ponceau 4R, sunset yellow, indigo carmine, carmoisine, erythrosine, tartrazine and fast green colours.