Yes Really ― We've All Been Squeezing Ketchup Wrong

First, came the news that I wasn’t boiling my potatoes for mash correctly. Then, it turned out that I’ve apparently never used the right amount of water for my pasta (yes, really). 

So, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that I’ve been squeezing my ketchup bottle “wrong” all these years too. 

In a recent TikTok, @jordan_the_stallion8 shared that when he was in college, he “wrote a paper about ketchup bottle development” and learned that the regular front-to-back pressure most of us exert on our favourite condiment isn’t the best way to do it. 

Then what is?

Instead, he reveals, we should squeeze from the curves in the side of the bottle ― he even stitched a video of another TikTok user who used that method for a seriously smooth ketchup pour.

Heinz had such an issue with getting ketchup out of their original glass containers that one of their 1964 ads tried to make the bug a feature, arguing that their sauce was so thick and delicious it had to pour slowly. A 1979 ad used Carly Simon’s Anticipation as its jingle. 

But when even the squeezy bottles of ketchup that were made in the ’80s still proved hard to use, “they made what’s called an upside-down container or gravity container” in 2001.

Squeezing the front of the gravity container forces the product out via pressure, @jordan_the_stallion8 shared, which means the amount of force you apply affects how much ketchup comes out. 

But when you squeeze the sides, air pressure does all the work ― “all the pressure is gonna push the ketchup out on its own” ― though as the bottle empties, this method will be less and less effective. 

Still, it’s fun to try “for the first couple of squeezes,” the TikToker ended his video.

Heinz had something to say about the revelation 

Heinz shared the video on their Instagram page, captioning the repost, “Who says classic brands can’t learn new tricks?” 

And in the comments of @jordan_the_stallion8′s TikTok, a commenter replied, “it baffles me how companies spend millions of dollars on developing this kind of stuff and then TELL NO ONE.” 

To be fair, it sounds like it was news to them too...