Tomato Sauce – An alternative to tomatoes or an invitation to diseases.

Tomato sauce should not be used during cooking.

Who does not like tomato sauce and ketchup with bread or pakoras, kachoris, chow mien, tomato sauce is eaten with it. Everyone knows about the taste of sauce but how many people read and understand the label of packing of sauce.

Usually the sauce contains only 20 to 28 percent tomatoes. Rest of the pumpkin or thickener like starch etc. are found only. Along with this, preservatives, test enhancers, etc. chemical elements are mixed, the prices of tomatoes are skyrocketing in India.

Which is common in this season. But this time the price is 50 to 100 rupees more than the rest of the year. Tomatoes are generally available at Rs.80 to Rs.100 per kg in this season. But this time the prices have reached rs.150 to 200 per kg. Circumstances is that McDonald’s, a multinational restaurant chain, also had to remove tomatoes from its burgers.

Which was brushed aside citing poor quality. And this is true to some extent. In this season, from 10% to 25% of tomatoes in one kg of tomato are rotten or have insects in them. 

In such a situation, tomato sauce and ketchup are now being used in young eatables, small hotels, restaurants, dhabas, and food items sold on the street which should be with tomatoes.

Which can be harmful to health. The reason for this is that sous vide (slow cooking) technique is used to make sauce in the factory. And at this working temperature, preservatives, taste enhancers, food colors, and other chemical elements are added to the sauce so that the sauce remains in the same condition for a long time.

But when sauce is used while cooking food. So in high flame, dramatic changes are seen in these chemicals which combine with food to form different types of chemicals. Which are not only harmful to health, but food poisoning can also happen immediately.

Remember, readymade sauces or chutneys are only meant to be eaten with ready-made food. Not for cooking with food. That’s why many big hotels where chefs understand food technology. They do not use readymade sauces for cooking. This tradition has come to India from the street food culture of China.

In China too, tomato sauce and soy sauce are used to cook Chow Mein or Manchurian. Which is made by the street vendors themselves. Or take it from the one who makes it fresh. Not bottled chemical sauces. But this nuance has been ignored in the practice of copy  in India. Street food in India is still cooked with sauce. Looking at these,

Domestic chefs and young consumers can also be seen using sauces in cooking. In such a situation, when tomatoes are expensive and sauces are cheap, then this practice is happening even more. So be careful about this. Reduce the use of readymade sauces and do not use them at all while cooking.

Also avoid such food items in the market where readymade sauce is being used during cooking. It is noteworthy that in place of readymade sauce, adulterated and fake sauces are also used in the market. Which is a direct invitation to diseases.