- Karen Protheroe, Registered Dietician A lot of mothers have a hate- love relationship with commercially bought tomato sauce...”hate” because their children (and often husbands too!) won’t eat their food unless it is smothered with tomato sauce and “love” because it’s a source of veggies (isn’t it?) which is great for kids who don’t eat enough vegetables.

So is tomato sauce a bad thing or a good thing? Well, like many food products, it depends on the brand of tomato sauce you use as well as how much you use. Let’s start with the first big issue which is how much tomatoes are actually in your commercially bought bottle of tomato sauce and can a serving of tomato sauce be counted as a serving of vegetables. I have examined two different brands that are common to our supermarket shelves and found that the one tomato sauce had double the amount of tomato puree (27%) compared to the other (15%). Even 27% in my mind seems a little especially as the rest of the product is mainly firstly water and then secondly sugar. So that means that when you are pouring tomato sauce over your food three quarters of what you are pouring is thickened, coloured and flavoured water! So no, a serving of tomato sauce (usually about a tablespoon) does not count as a vegetable serving. 

That brings me onto the next issue which is the reason why tomato sauce tastes so good and is almost addictive is because of all the flavouring added starting with sugar and salt and ending with artificial flavourants. Now the tomato sauce that has double the amount of tomatoes added has no added flavorants or thickeners as it uses the tomatoes to do so (after all sun-ripened tomatoes have a gorgeous flavour and the puree is an excellent thickener). It also has no preservatives added whereas the other brand is artificially preserved but unfortunately this means the manufacturer of the preservative free brand has had to add extra salt to its tomato sauce to help preserve it. You can actually tell just from looking at the two products which one is artificially preserved as it is a much brighter red than the other product which is duller in colour and actually becomes duller the longer you leave it on your shelf. So for those who need to watch their salt intake, take note that the one tomato sauce has almost 40% more salt than the other product. 

So what can one conclude?  I think it is obvious that one must take time to read the labels on food products and then choose the product that best suits your needs.  As a mother of two children who love tomato sauce, I allow small amounts to be used for certain foods or meals only. For example, a boerie roll is certainly not a boerie roll unless it is dressed with tomato sauce. I also always make sure I choose the product that is most natural.  But as for using tomato sauce on meals where I have taken time to add natural herbs and spices to create a specific flavour, is a definite no-no in my house. 

Home-made Tomato Sauce
·         2 Tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil
·         1 medium onion chopped finely
·         1 large clove garlic crushed
·         1 deseeded and destorked chilli finely chopped
·         400g fresh or canned tomatoes
·         1-2 heaped tsp brown sugar
·         1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar
·         1 handful fresh basil leaves
·         Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a frying pan over a low heat, add onions and cook till soft. Add garlic and chilli and cook for further 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and seasoning and cook till broken down (about 20 minutes). At end of cooking process, add sugar, vinegar and basil. Cook for 5 more minutes and then allow to cool. Blitz if necessary.

Variations:
·         Add 2 teaspoons of pesto at end of cooking process.
·         Add extra chilli if you like heat.

Article provided by: Lean Aubergine Dietetic Service:
Please contact:
Claremont - Kim Hofmann
Tel:           021 674 4666 or 084 206 2715
E-mail:      kimh.rd@mweb.co.za
Address:   Ambiente, 56 First Avenue, Harfield Village

Franschhoek - Karen Protheroe
Tel:          082 925 0931