To fridge or not to fridge? How you should store the ‘Ketchup’?

A recent tweet from Kraft Heinz ignited a debate about the proper storage of ketchup with just five words. The United Kingdom-based branch of the food and beverage company declared, “Ketchup. Goes. In. The. Fridge!!!” The tweet, with its heavy use of punctuation, reached over 4 million people.

A day later, Kraft Heinz conducted a Twitter poll, asking the public where they preferred to store their ketchup: in the refrigerator or in the pantry.

The poll revealed that 63.2% of the over 13,000 respondents favored keeping their ketchup in the fridge, while 36.8% preferred storing it in the cupboard.

Some Twitter users who disliked cold ketchup pointed out that restaurants typically keep ketchup bottles at room temperature on tables.

Others argued that once the bottle is opened, refrigeration is necessary.

In 2017, a similar question was posed to the United States branch of Heinz on Twitter.

The company responded by stating that Heinz Ketchup, due to its natural acidity, is shelf-stable but should be refrigerated after opening to maintain product quality.