To many, the name Heinz is synonymous with the thought of Ketchup. It's hard to imagine a bottle of the bright red condiment without Heinz's label blazing on its front. In Israel however, that iconic label is now deemed as technically misleading. This is because the Israeli Health Ministry recently ruled that Heinz can no longer call its signature product 'Ketchup' because it does not contain enough tomato solids.
According to Haaretz, Heinz is no longer allowed to use the name Ketchup on its Hebrew packaging and must now sell under the name 'Tomato Seasoning'. The ruling does not however, affect the English language branding of the product.
Heinz's Director of Corporate and Government Affairs Nigel Dickie said: "The word Ketchup is indicated in English on the front of the bottle while recognising that the Israeli standard for ketchup has yet to be brought in line with US and European accepted international standards, the back label of our ketchup sold in Israel reflects current local requirements for ingredient labelling and the Hebrew name for the product."
According to Haaretz's report, the ruling came about due to fierce lobbying from Osem, a local food manufacturer that provides about two-thirds of the Ketchup consumed in the country. According to the Telegraph:
"Osem sent a letter to retailers claiming that it had had the offending product tested in a "leading European external laboratory" and that it had found that the sauce only contained 21% tomato concentrate. Israeli food standards state that to be considered a ketchup, a sauce has to contain 41% tomato concentrate."
In response Heinz's Israel distributor Diplomat has launched its own petition and is now lobbying to have the national criteria for Ketchup changed. Diplomat wants the required Tomato paste content reduced to 6% from the current standard of 10%.
