Ketchup

[Mark A. Mandel]

Paul Frank <paulfrank at POST.HARVARD.EDU> writes:

>>>>>
     [...]
If ketchup is American tomatoes are vegetables. (Didn't the
Supremes rule that tomatoes _are_ vegetables?)
<<<<<

I believe they did rule on it. The issue is that botanically the tomato is
a fruit, but in American cuisine it is treated as a vegetable, which I
think does not correspond to any botanical taxon. IIRC, the Supreme Court
ruled that for purposes of advertising, commercial "councils"*, and the
like, tomatoes counted as vegetables.

* (i.e., industry groups that "tax" growers to promote an agricultural
product, like cheese or tomatoes, without specifying a brand)

Apropos, the Nixon administration tried to declare that ketchup counted as
a vegetable toward the nutritional quota specified for Federally funded
school lunches. Senator (Rep.?) Heinz, Republican of Pennsylvania, stated:
"Ketchup is not a vegetable." And that was the end of that!

-- Mark A. Mandel