This is a silly post, and there’s nothing in it that will save the world. But, I notice odd things and this is one of them.
We buy store brand mustard. It’s a way of saving few bucks, but I wonder if we’re really saving anything. When I have a hot dog, yes I still eat hot dogs, I squeeze mustard on the bun, but the first thing I see is mustard water flowing out. Damn it! I don’t like mustard water. How much water is in a bottle of mustard? I’m not sure but there must be quite a bit because it seems to collect rapidly. Do the name brand mustards contain less water?
Years before squeeze bottles, we didn’t have this problem. We used a knife or spoon to dive into the bottle to get the mustard for our sandwich. But with the convenience of the plastic squeeze bottle we discovered the yucky mustard water. The label tells you the ingredients and one is water, but there’s no percentage of how much water it contains. I suspect name brand mustards also contain water as did the non-squeeze bottles back in the day. The bottom line is that water has always been an ingredient in mustard.
It’s a science thing that water is lighter than the other mustard ingredients so it rises to the top. We have learned to first squeeze the mustard into the sink to get the water out every time we use it. In doing that we also squirt a little mustard out. Maybe if I shake the bottle before I use it that might help. I’ll have to try that. I haven’t noticed the same problem with catsup. Probably, because we store catsup bottles upside down. I just pull it out of the frig and squirt it on the sandwich. No catsup water at all. I read the label which does not have water as an ingredient, but this was Heinz so I need to check the label on a store brand. On a recent shopping trip, I did a little research and found that water is not listed as an ingredient in catsup but all mustard contain some amount of water.
I’m curious why is catsup in clear bottles even store brands and mustard is in colored bottles with the exception of specialty mustards like spicy hot, stone ground or honey dijon. Both catsup and mustards are colored and that color would be visible in a clear bottle. Is mustard in a colored bottle because the manufacturer doesn’t want the consumer to see all the water in the mustard bottle? Seems puzzling to me. I think the mustard producers should adopt the catsup idea by introducing upside down bottles then you then maybe we wouldn’t have to deal with mustard water until the bottle is almost empty.
“Just Saying . . .”
