Heinz Ketchup - Less Salt

I don't know why Heinz is messing with success.

Leave my ketchup alone!

From the Associated Press:

H.J. Heinz Co. is messing around with the recipe for its flagship product, reducing the sodium content in its ketchup in a move that the company described as the first "significant" change in the nation's dominant brand of the tomato-based condiment in nearly 40 years.

A little more than a week ago, employees began cooking up the new version. Bottles of reformulated Heinz ketchup are expected to start appearing, quietly, in grocery stores this summer.

...Heinz is moving carefully, but with confidence that consumers will be OK with the new recipe.

"The initial consumer taste tests were conducted in Pittsburgh, before we expanded to six cities across the U.S., to ensure the recipe met our consumers' expectations," said Jessica Jackson, a company spokeswoman.

Why slash the salt?

It's not as if people consume mounds of ketchup. Will the decrease in salt in ketchup be all that significant in an individual's daily diet?

I haven't tasted the new stuff. If it tastes the same, terrific. Slash the salt. But if it doesn't, I guess I'll have to start salting my ketchup. That's a pain.

Lots of products have low salt versions. Why not do the same with Heinz ketchup?

If the new recipe tastes different, I predict other cheaper brands will benefit. Why pay more for Heinz if it doesn't taste like Heinz?

I hope the Obama administration doesn't put a tax on salt.