History of Tomatoes

Long before tomatoes were popular in salads and sandwiches, they were promoted as medicine. In the early 1800s, many Americans found them unappealing and even thought they were poisonous. This changed in 1834 when Ohio physician John Cook Bennett touted tomatoes as a cure for ailments like indigestion and jaundice, despite his claims lacking evidence. He also introduced tomatoes in pill form, reinforcing their medicinal image. This health craze faded by the 1850s, but tomatoes gained culinary popularity with the advent of ketchup.

The first tomato ketchup recipe appeared in 1812 by Philadelphia scientist James Mease, but it took off after the F. & J. Heinz Company launched their version in 1876. Heinz’s use of vinegar for preservation made it shelf-stable, and their clear glass bottles highlighted the product’s purity. Starting in 1896, Heinz adopted the number “57” for branding, a combination of his lucky number five and his wife’s favorite number seven, despite it having no relation to product varieties.

By the numbers:

• Tomato varieties grown worldwide 10,000+

• Speed (in miles per hour) at which ketchup flows out of Heinz glass bottles .028

• Year a Heinze employee coined the term "quality control" 1912

• Tomato seeds sent into space as part of the Tomatosphere project               600,000