**This is not a sponsored post - I wish!**
Taking a break from my Penang series, I would like to share a nice discovery. Okai, so this is not an original idea but I heard urban legends about it before. I chanced upon this blog post regarding Mcdonald's ketchup. The blogger, Aileen Dreyfus, by the way is the wife of the 90's "That's Entertainment" star Chuckie Dreyfus.
So here's the thing, those little packets of Mcdonald's ketchup have these little numbers on the upper left side portion (front). It is numbered from 1 to 8 and those numbers represent something. The number ranges from "1" being the sweetest and "8" being the sourest. So the balanced taste would be on numbers "4" and "5". Well, that's the rumor (or should I say urban legend).
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| see the numbers? |
There were some comments on the blog post which confirmed this rumor but I wanted to try it out. I raided our fridge and saw some packets hoarded by my mom from different establishments. I was so glad to see Mcdonald's ketchup packets with numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. We don't have the number "1" but I went on with my little experiment.
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| I missed the number 1 |
I opened each pack and tasted it. I did cleanse my palate with some water after every packet (I dunno if it helped). It went on with my eyes closed for whatever reason. And you know what? Each ketchup packet is really different from each other. I mean it is true! I dunno if it's psychological or something but I was so happy with the results.
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| paint palette-inspired ketchup |
I liked numbers "6" and "7" 'coz I'm not really a fan of sweet kinds of ketchup. I remembered how Mcdonald's served banana ketchup before and how it tasted - bleh. And how can I forget the green ketchup of Burger King way back in 2001-2002, not my thing too. Too many ketchup stories going on here.
I think the reason for this is; that people won't be stuck with the same ketchup taste every time they dine at Mcdonald's. I notice how people usually combine packets of ketchup in a small container (some in tissue napkins). And if you tend to combine them, the taste will be different every time. Or if you don't then the chances of getting the same taste (number) every time you go to Mcdonald's is 1:8. Nice one.
Go try it yourself!
Check out more of my food stories here.
This is so interesting! Thank you so much for sharing. I'm a big tomato ketchup fan and I usually hoard fastfood establishments' ketchup packets. I've never noticed the numbers though, but now I'm gonna do some experimenting with it too and see which number I like the most. :)
ReplyDeleteBtw, followed your blog. Hope you can check mine too. Thanks!
http://thepurpledoll.net
This post made me curious, matry din nga :)
ReplyDeleteit tastes the same for me until this...
ReplyDeleteamazing! subukan ko nga rin.. haha
ReplyDeleteim aware of this too. nachikka lang ng classmate ko nung college. u know, mcdo everyday! :)
ReplyDelete@sumi - thanks for following... just in case you try this, tell me if im right or just hallucinating :)
ReplyDelete@claire - go go!
@suroy - try it then tell me if my tastebuds are right..
@chyng - ako din eh narinig ko na to dati pero kebs lang ako..:)
Yah I know this one as well, ni-share ko pa sa ka officemate ko ayaw naman maniwala. Sabay nag trip na kaming tanungin yung isang crew hindi nman alam, wala tuloy sumuporta sa akin. Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to try it too. Di ko alam yun a. Very interesting post carla. Kala ko pare-pareho lang din lahat. Amazing!
ReplyDeletei learn new things everyday at ito ay isang tunay na dagdag kaalaman, hehehe! ...sa sobrang excitement ko sa pag dip ng french fries sa mga ketchup ng mcdo, wala na nga sa malay ko kung heinz ang gamit nila dito, hehehe!
ReplyDelete...next experiment, maam! :)
yep, I passed this one blog also last year and happened to know the numbers meaning in every ketchup. Interesting diba, many of us were unaware of this before kahit mismo nung nag crew ako, hindi saken naituro to eh... hehe.
ReplyDeleteey guys! try nyo tas share nyo sakin kung ano verdict..bilis! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my golly! hahaha! fave ko pana naman to papakin! hahaha! di ko 2 napansin..cge nga gawin ko 2!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this info.
I've heard about this McDonalds ketchup numbering but have not tried to prove it. Thanks for proving it to us. And as usual you take great pictures. :)
ReplyDeleteHello! New follower here! :)
ReplyDeleteCame across your blog as I was blogwalking and I'm so happy that I did because now I know why the MCDO ketchup packets are numbered like that! I've noticed them many times before but I never really bothered coming up with possible explanations. Maybe because I was too hungry and excited for my cheese burger most of the time! :)
i wouldn't even notice it if i didn't read about it in the blog posted above... nice info noh?
ReplyDeletehahaha ang galing ha, may ganun pa pala!
ReplyDeletemay kwentong mcdo ketchup din ako from the netherlands, pag bumili ka ng burger pala dun, walang kasamang ketchup, you have to pay roughly php30.00 for a packet. nyay!
@christian - talaga?! grabe naman!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! Now I know which sachet I should open. :D
ReplyDeletehttp://dekaphobe.blogspot.com
I'd just wonder,What happened to the Old Catsup of Mc donalds that came from USA?
ReplyDeleteaccdg to mcdonalds philippines the number on the ketchup represent the batch number they are belong after production....we got the answer when we met them during the press launch of the new renovated mcdonalds in makati cinema square.... so pag may problem sa taste or lasa sa isa sa mga ketchup, they can pull out the entire batch easily by reading the batch number
ReplyDelete@azrael - wow! thanks for this info... so it's an urban legend after all eh? thanks again :)
ReplyDeletenung nakita ko itong post na ito akala ko may something nakakatakot about sa ketchup ng mcdo, ok naman pala, masubukan nga.
ReplyDeletepero sabi nung iba urban legend lang daw... balitaan mo kami kung ano verdict mo ha... :)
DeleteThese numbers are printers numbers used to identify the source of problems quickly in the printing process - they have nothing to do with the content inside.
ReplyDeletethanks jc!
DeleteI work in the packaging industry and was just going to say the same thing!
Deletethanks for that valuable information guys :)
DeleteOh, so it's all in the mind then.
ReplyDeleteapparently, but everytime i would open a packet i would look up the number above and still compare it :)
Deletemeron akong 9 hehehehe
ReplyDeleteso maasim nga talaga? :P
DeleteSorry to rain on your parade but this had been bugging me for ages so I contacted Heinz.
ReplyDelete"Thank you for getting in touch about our sauce sachets.
We can confirm that the numbers on the sachets relates to the filling line which the sachet was filled on.
We do hope this information is helpful.
Regards,
Michele
Heinz Customer Care"
Rich in Andover.
Thanks for this information :)
Deletei have 12 super sour!
ReplyDeleteThis is totally false. The number on the sachet packets are for quality control purposes. The number on sachets denotes the filling line where the ketchup was filled. In case of non-conformities in products or process.. it would be easy for the manufacturer to identify which lines or numbers should be recalled. And getting back to your experiment, my opinion is.. it is pure psychological! Or maybe your taste buds are fooling your brain because you are instructing your mind that there should be a variation in taste just like testing a perfume.. you feel immune on the first scent that you have smelled and even though you keep testing other perfumes, your mind keeps telling you that smell over and over again.
ReplyDeleteHi there Arvin. Thanks for that information and clarification. I'm still getting OC with the number thing every time I get a packet of ketchup. Haha. But I can see that you have a basis so I won't be thinking too much about it anymore :)
Delete