Why does the ketchup taste different?

At first, I thought I was crazy, especially because my husband said he didn't noticed a difference and he thought I was just imagining it. But then my brother and his wife came to visit us and my sis in law - with no prompting from me - also claimed the ketchup over here tastes different than it does in the US (I honestly had never mentioned it to her before).

Even Heinz tastes different so it's not just the difference in brands.

I say it kind of tastes sweeter than US ketchup. Has anyone else noticed a difference or are my sis in law and I just crazy? And does anyone know why it's different? Does it have more sugar in it or something? Sorry, I did a search for this topic but couldn't find if it's been discussed before or not. I know it's just ketchup but it perplexes me.

My husband said that too when he first came here.  We compared the ingredients on a US bottle to those on a UK one and they were slightly different, I can't remember how exactly.  I even sent an email to Heinz & asked if it was possible to get the US one here and they wrote back and claimed they were made exactly the same and any taste difference was due only to the local ingredients tasting different.

I haven't noticed a taste difference, but I don't eat ketchup much.

I have noticed taste difference with other things though, eg Hellmann's mayo.

I think uk ketchup has more vinager in it.

I haven't noticed a difference in the Heinz ketchup we use at home, but the ketchup that comes in the little packets is WAY sweeter over here.

My husband said that too when he first came here.  We compared the ingredients on a US bottle to those on a UK one and they were slightly different, I can't remember how exactly.  I even sent an email to Heinz & asked if it was possible to get the US one here and they wrote back and claimed they were made exactly the same and any taste difference was due only to the local ingredients tasting different.

lol Thanks for the info and glad to know I'm not the only one obsessing over this! I don't buy this local ingredients theory though.

I think uk ketchup has more vinager in it.

That may explain why I don't like the UK ketchup.....

Like the others have said, I don't know what the difference is, but I KNOW there is one....

That's why I've got four bottles of Hunt's stashed in the cupboard - some things you just can't live without!    I'll send you one if you'd like....

It could be the same as the difference in the sodas...corn syrup. To me the sodas taste sweeter in the UK because they're made with sugar instead of corn syrup so the same could be true for the ketchup.

I actually like ketchup here, and didn't like it in the US. I thought my tastes had just changed with age; I didn't realise that it was because the ingredients are different.

BTW, ketchup is called tomato sauce here in Yorkshire. 

BTW, ketchup is called tomato sauce here in Yorkshire. 

Yeah, I remember getting really confused by that one the first time I visited DH's parents up here in Teesside - we went out for fish and chips and once we'd been served, Chris asked the server for tomato sauce, and I totally expected her to come back with a bowl of marinara.

I just ran to look.. the US ketchup uses High Fructose Corn Syrup... which they do not use in the UK... they use Glucose syrup.  Hence processed foods taste differently.  It's not the proportions of vinegar.. it's the difference in sweetner used.  Ditto for Coke etc. 

My taste buds get used to it,  but then again I am no where near picky with my food.

I'm back in the US visiting my parents and I just said this tonight at dinner - "Why does the ketchup taste funny?"

I think the HF corn syrup is wrecking havok on my digestive tract at the moment - you just don't run into it as much in the UK and I don't think I'm used to it anymore.

Like the others have said, I don't know what the difference is, but I KNOW there is one....

That's why I've got four bottles of Hunt's stashed in the cupboard - some things you just can't live without!    I'll send you one if you'd like....

LOL thanks but I wouldn't want to cut into your stash - I don't use ketchup all that often anyway, usually just on my fries.

I just ran to look.. the US ketchup uses High Fructose Corn Syrup... which they do not use in the UK... they use Glucose syrup.  Hence processed foods taste differently.  It's not the proportions of vinegar.. it's the difference in sweetner used.  Ditto for Coke etc. 

Interesting! I haven't noticed a difference with any soda though. Thanks for the info.

It does!

Yep, both ketchup and soda taste differently to me here- never realised it was due to the lack of high fructose corn syrup!