Israel is making Heinz stop calling its ketchup 'ketchup.' It has nothing to do with John Kerry or Iran.

In Israel, Heinz ketchup no longer qualifies as &quot;ketchup&quot;

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

last updated 25 August 2015

Heinz can no longer call its ketchup "ketchup" in Israel (sort of), after a recent ruling by the country's Health Ministry. Instead, Haaretz reports, it has to call itself "tomato seasoning," at least on its Hebrew label. (In English, it can still use the word ketchup.)

You don't have to read too far down in the comments section of the articles on this regulatory ruling to notice that many readers of Israeli news remember that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, has familial ties to Heinz ketchup (she is the widow of Heinz heir Sen. H. John Heinz III [R-Pa.]). Many people in Israel are upset over the deal Kerry helped negotiate with Iran. That has nothing to do with the ketchup business.

First of all, that's silly. Secondly, it makes no sense even if the Israeli health ministry were so petty. "Think the Israelis know Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of the U.S. secretary of state who shepherded the controversial Iran nuke deal, cashed out of the company a few years ago?" quips Phil Rosenthal at the Chicago Tribune. Heinz is now owned by Kraft, and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

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What is behind the reclassification is business, apparently. In January, Israel's dominant ketchup maker, Osem, filed a complaint with the Health Ministry, seeking to force Heinz out of the "ketchup" game because, it claimed, its famous red sauce doesn't have enough tomato paste or tomato solids to meet the Israeli definition. The Heinz distributor in Israel, Diplomat, is asking for the Israeli definition of ketchup to be changed; Heinz told Newsweek that the country's current standards have "yet to be brought in line with U.S. and European accepted international standards."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.