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The lengthy process that has resulted in an explicite method of verification of the prescribed quality of ketchups testifies that it is not always easy to expose food adulterations. The Decree No. 332/1997, Coll. of L., issue by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic clearly stipulates that ordinary ketchups should contain minimum 7 % of tomato part and in ketchups labelled as Prima, Extra or Special the tomato part should reach even 10 %. Despite this Decree has been in effect for five years there has not been yet introduced any explicit method verifying this basic quality indicator in ketchups.

The Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority, in cooperation with the University of Chemical Technology in Prague, have succeeded in verifying in practice a method that can distinctly prove actual tomato contents in ketchups.    

The inspectors took 17 samples of ketchups right in the manufacturing premises or in the importers that are distributed in the Czech market. The results of laboratory analyses showed that 2 of them did not contain the prescribed 7 % of tomato part

CAFIA carried out a similar inspection in summer. Its results served as some sort of screening of the situation in the market. The producers and importers were informed of the results of analyses and had enough time to take corrective actions. The results of a repeated inspection show that such a procedure is effective: with the exception of two products that did not comply with the regulations even in the repeated analyses, all the other inspected ketchups contained the prescribed percentage of tomato part.

The manufacturers or importers of ketchups in which even the second analysis confirmed very low percentage of tomato contents are very well informed about composition of their products. Of course, also this case applies to the well know: the lower the tomato content is, the bigger the potential profit might be.

The producers of ketchups try to hide the lower percentage of tomatoes by adding various thickening agents, such as modified starch. The consumer cannot then recognize if it was really used the prescribed 140 grams of tomatoes to produce 100 grams of ketchup, or if their quantity was much lower. Such cases are assessed as deliberate adulteration and CAFIA will accede to impose the maximum penalties permitted by the law.