I've learned to avoid food items labelled "no sugar added," because that usually does not mean the product is less sweet, but is artificially sweetened. When I picked up this bottle of ketchup, I expected to find sucralose, which I detest, in the ingredient list. I was surprised and pleased to see that the sweetener in this case was not sucralose, but rather stevia.
Ingredients: tomato concentrate from red ripe tomatoes, distilled white vinegar, salt, natural flavoring, stevia leaf extract, onion powder.
I had to laugh at the claim "Sweetness from PLANTS" on the label. Just what do they think sugar cane is, an animal?
But I got over it, and decided to try a bottle.
Much to my surprise, I loved it at first taste, and have so far had no cause to change my mind. It doesn't taste artificial, and has a brighter, fresher taste than regular ketchup. Time will tell, but I may be a convert.
That's interesting to me, because I find stevia to have an aftertaste like aspartame so I avoid it as well.
You might not like it; I know someone else who threw his bottle away after first taste. But I also know that stevia has become more refined than the days when we were basically eating the leaves. Whether that improves it or takes away from its value, I don't know. If you come visit, you can taste ours. :)
