Make it from Scratch.

I hate to rain on your parade, but regular 'ol ketchup is bad news.

Hey, what's wrong with concentrated tomatoes?!

Well, nothing! Tomatoes are lovely and are excellent sources of lycopene (great for men's health)! So it's not the tomatoes that is problem, rather it the liquid sugar that is added to them that is harmful. High-fructose corn syrup (labeled as HFCS, liquid sugar, or fructose on most food labels) is one of the most suspected culprits in the North American obesity epidemic. Why would sugar (a carb) make people fat? Isn't fat supposed to make us fat? Fructose is metabolized faster in the body than other sweeteners, such as glucose. For this reason, too much fructose means too many extra pounds, as it is turned into fat if it is not very-soon-after burned-off or used for fuel. The other big problem with HFCS (just to be clear: there are many reasons why HFCS is bad, but I'm not going to discuss them all here today), is that it is made with corn and most corn products (especially those made in the United States, unless they are certified organic), are genetically modified, meaning their genes have been tampered with my big corporations in order to save a buck.

Certainly a little sugar will not hurt you, but a little bit of HFCS, well, we can't be sure it isn't hurting you because it is too new of a product and has too new of a manufacturing process to know its true consequences.

So with that, I say we do away with ketchup and start embracing mustard, sea salt, spices, and herbs to season our French fries. As for burgers, pile 'em high with avocado, dill pickles, real dairy cheese, and other veggies (lettuce, tomato, onion, roasted red peppers). Or when all else fails and you are totally craving ketchup, make it from scratch using this easy-peasy recipe:

Homemade Ketchup

Sweet, sour, and salty... mmm so good, without any scary high-fructose corn syrup!

2 tablespoons plain tomato paste
2 teaspoons honey (or maple syrup)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon salt

...or you can start adding the ingredients bit-by-bit, tasting along the way, until you reach a paste that tastes just like Heinz. However, the measurements listed above work perfectly for Tony and I (we think it tastes just like the "real" thing).