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We do not like it anywhere Virtually everyone can recall hearing a stern admonition from a parent: "Don't play with your food.The next sound you hear, though, may be a shriek from an exasperated Mom or a groan from a weary Dad who has just learned of the latest food fad -- thin-stream ketchup suitable for creating mealtime works of art. The Associated Press reported that the nation's leading ketchup purveyor, H.J. Heinz Co. of Pittsburgh, is introducing ketchup in a plastic bottle that squirts a stream so thin kids can draw with it. While a Heinz spokesman contends "the core idea is to give kids more control and fun over their food," we suspect many parents will think they have lost control when tomato-squirting Picassos hit the dinner table. If that scenario weren't enough to give one pause, consider what is actually the major element of this condiment caper. Did we mention that this particular ketchup is green? Yes, that's correct -- "deep green" ketchup, made not with green tomatoes as one might suspect, but rather with ordinary red fruit enhanced with food coloring by the manufacturer. Apparently, young focus groups suggested that kids want to see ketchup in a color other than red. The product development team tried blue but settled on deep green because "it has a little more kitchen logic," the Heinz spokesman said. Banishing blue seems to be a wise move. Except when baked in a pie, blue food turns off most folks. For culinary mavericks who like a dab of sauce with their scrambled eggs, the green ketchup will provide an easy way to create the proverbial "Green Eggs and Ham." But, we can still hear the voice of a parent saying, "If you want green food, eat your broccoli!
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