Your favorite Tomato Ketchup was actually sold as a pill to cure diarrhea and jaundice

Can you imagine gorging on your favorite delicacies without adding that little dose of happiness to it? Yes, we are talking about the sweet, tangy and spicy tomato ketchup that can instantly change the way you snack! But wait, do you know this age-old condiment was once created as medicine to cure diarrhea and was sold as pills? It sounds shocking but is actually true.

Read on to know more about it…

Was ketchup actually a medicine?Ketchup does not need an introduction; this condiment has been an inseparable part of our day-to-day meals. Right from relishing crispy fries to enjoying crunchy pakoras, it is impossible to imagine gorging on appetizers without a bowl of tomato ketchup. But this sweet-sour sauce was first invented as medication and not as a condiment! Here’s all you need to know about the twisted tale of tomato ketchup.

Read more: 7 Foods You Didn’t Know Are High in SugarWhy and when was ketchup invented?The history of ketchup is hard to pin down. However, food experts and scholars believe that the origin of ketchup can be traced back to China wherein it was known as Ge-thcup or Koe-cheup, which was basically a fish sauce. This fermented sauce was made from fish innards and soybeans; this sauce was salty and had a pungent smell. The untold tale of tomato sauce?According to several food reports, tomatoes were added to the ketchup in 1834 by Dr.

John Cooke Bennett. It was believed that tomatoes had pectin, lycopene and other nutrients that had potent medicinal properties. Dr. Bennett claimed that this blend of tomatoes could treat common ailments like diarrhea, indigestion, rheumatism, and jaundice. The idea was so popular that he even created pills by inducing a ketchup mix, which was sold as a medicine.

The popularity of tomato pillsThese tomato extract pills became so popular among the masses that they became a rage among medicine producers. But gradually these pills were created in substandard ways by copycats by adding laxatives and no tomato content, which led to the downfall of the trend. It was also claimed that this new version of pills could fix bones and heal vitamin deficiencies like scurvy. This led to the end of the tomato pills empire and that’s how our very own tomato ketchup came into existence!The history of KetchupThe tomato originally grew wild in South America before Spanish conquistadors brought it to Europe in the 1500s.

For centuries, Westerners avoided eating it, fearing the bright red fruit was highly toxic because it belongs to the nightshade family. The tomato's reputation shifted in 1834 when an Ohio physician named Dr. John Cook Bennett declared that it was actually a powerful medical panacea. He claimed that the fruit's natural acids could cure widespread ailments like diarrhea, indigestion, and jaundice.

Bennett's endorsement triggered a massive health craze, leading pharmacists to condense concentrated tomato ketchup into "tomato pills" that were sold across the country as a mainstream stomach medicine long before anyone thought to pour it over a plate of fries.