To say that people who put their tomato sauce/ketchup in the fridge are plain wrong.

[Salmotrutta]

They just are.

There is no need.

Similarly, the deluded people who put eggs in the fridge are wrong.

Eggs are best left at room temperature.

Fact.

And don't get me started on butter...

The labels don't tell you if something is off. They tell you how to store something so that it takes longer to go off. You can easily tell if ketchup has gone off by taste.

If you get through a bottle quickly you don't need to put it in the fridge. If it is going to be hanging around for a month then you'll end up throwing it away or being a person who enjoys the taste of gone off food. People only very rarely die from eating gone off ketchup.

Ketchup. Very much a class issue. Oh, yes.

Along with the salad cream vs mayonnaise issue.

Bunbaker - I'm sorry you had food poisoning.

But it doesn't change my opinion that ketchup doesn't need refrigerated.

That's my opinion.

Yabu it is basic food hygiene. Read the labels!

Yes, I follow advice on food labels re storage and cooking. Why on earth would that be a shame?

'Yes, smug people who think that advice labels on food items are for thick people and those with sensitive stomachs who prefer to follow food storage advice on bottle labels.'

Wow, tomato ketchup makes you most irate. I'll continue to risk ketchup food poisoning and keep it in the cupboard.

'Yabu it is basic food hygiene'

Ummmm, no. Basic food hygiene would be 'don't eat rotten meat' or 'don't eat raw chicken'.

I keep my mayonnaise in the cupboard too!

Oh no, that's madness. I couldn't do that.

If ketchup doesn't need to be refrigerated it wouldn't say so on the bottle.

Heinz tomato ketchup contains tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, spices and herbs - and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. It states on the bottle refrigerate after opening and eat within 8 weeks. We don't stick to the 8 week advice but we do refrigerate it because our kitchen is warm.

I often eat stuff from the fridge that is out of date.

And I have jars of jam that get opened and live in the cupboard until finished.

That was what happened with my mums (homemade) jam - it didn't last long enough to go off.

And we actually grow stuff in our garden that has real live dirt on it which we wash off.

Unless we washed the garden veg in Virkon how can we be sure we have gotten rid of things like botulism? .

Vinegar is a preservative! Has there ever been a bottle of ketchup that's gone off?

It says so on the bottle because food manufacturers have legal departments that advise them to err on the side of extreme caution to avoid being sued.

It's the same with recommended cooking times on chickens for example, they want you to cook your chicken till it's dry as a bone.

You and I must agree to disagree Bunbaker.

I do not agree with you.

Ketchup marketing people make us think we have to buy a new ketchup bottle every few weeks.

It's a marketing ploy in my humble opinion.

And my overuse of disagree is shameful.

If yoiu want to keep eggs longer they are better kept at a restricted temP. The usual advice is to get them out and get them to room temp first Before cooking.
It all depends on your house.

For our kitchen it depends on time of year. Our kitchen is cold in winter but hotest place in the house in summer.

Winter, eggs on side.
Summer, eggs we want to use on side, then we put rest in the fridge.

Really it depends on what you want the eggs for.
Fried or poached then fresh as possible and kept at room temp.
Baking,or savoury egg dishes, ,then who cares how fresh but take the eggs out of the fridge hours before to get to ro right ttemp. But really it willl probably all work out ffine.
Boiled, the older the better.

Or event my overuse of agree/to disagree.

Haveyoutried, yes, it eventually goes off and people have died from it. It is just very rare to die from it.

My FIL & MIL put labels on their jars and bottles with the date that it went into the fridge and the date that it needs to be taken out - if there isn't a 'use by' date and it just says 8 weeks. They will then mark the 8 week stuff on their calendar too, just to make sure it's definitely taken out of the fridge...

Death-chup.

They sound like a fun and easy going couple Koala!

Died from ketchup?? I'm prepared to be proved wrong.

I'll still keep it in the cupboard though!

'Marjorie, the wholegrain mustard is coming up to the 8 week mark. Let's don our bio hazard suits and remove it cautiously from fridge'.

I would love to see the evidence of people who have actually DIED from off ketchup.

Koalafications - your PIL sound very, erm, rigorous...

Yes, they are really laid back, go with the flow kinda people squoosh