Is That Ketchup Safe After A Summer In The Sun?

Catsup. Ketchup. For some reason, it's on my mind. It seems like we go through it a lot more in the summer than in the winter at my house, but I just started to wonder about it when my ketchup bottle seemed to go missing from the fridge for a few days. (Maybe I'm even more curious now to know if the spelling makes a difference on what's in the bottle!)

I found my missing red condiment about a week later in my son's room downstairs. No. It was NOT in a refrigerator. It was just sitting amongst dirty dishes, a half-eaten bag of stale chips, and some empty soda cans. I just grabbed it and stuck it back in the fridge. Should I have done that?

YAY OR NAY?

You go to a restaurant, and you have an almost empty ketchup bottle on your table, so you simply look over the room for an empty table, and grab the ketchup from that location. Do you ever think about it being good or outdated?

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HOW LONG HAS THAT KETCHUP BEEN SITTING OUT?

I never ask the waiter, "How long has that ketchup been sitting out on the counter?" and never have I been sick after eating it on my fries at a restaurant...or even at home after finding it in my kids' room a week later. (Not that I know of anyway.)

Everything that I've searched on Ketchup tells me that it would be a pretty rare instance when you would get sick from eating spoiled ketchup. If you want to know if it's bad, just smell it and check the consistency. Apparently, it gets runny, starts to smell, and loses its flavor when it's time to ditch it for a new bottle.

DOES ACIDITY MATTER?

According to several online articles, ketchup is acidic, so you don't have to worry about putting it in the refrigerator, but almost everyone I know DOES.

Now that I've got you wondering about YOUR ketchup bottle, this is what I have found.

foodsafety.gov has a general listing of what can be kept and what should be thrown away.

• Jelly, relish, taco sauce, mustard, catsup, olives, and pickles can all be kept.
• Open Mayo, tartar sauce, and horseradish should be thrown away if they've been out for more than 8 hours.
• Worcestershire sauce, along with barbecue and hoisin sauces, is also okay to keep.
• Fish sauces and oyster sauces must be tossed.
• Spaghetti sauces should be thrown out, as well as opened creamy-based dressings.
• Peanut butter is a keeper.

THERE'S MORE TO THINK ABOUT

There was a long list of items for you to check on whether or not you should refrigerate your items, but if you'd like to dig in a little more, just click HERE for the full listing of things that should or should NOT be refrigerated.

Now go enjoy that hot dog with your old bottle of catsup. Ketchup. Whatever.