Tomato Paste

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

The one thing on this shelf that is concentrated nutrition rather than concentrated salt.

Stage by stage

Concentrated (The tin): Roughly six tomatoes reduced to a tablespoon, with everything but the water still there.
Carotenoids (Small intestine): Beta-carotene at 1,320 mcg per 100 g, absorbed only when fat is in the meal.
Potassium (Circulation): 960 mg per 100 g — higher than banana by weight, and worth flagging in kidney disease.
Fibre survives (Gut): 3.5 g per 100 g, which nothing else on this shelf retains.

Timing

Cook it in fat before adding liquid. Both the flavour development and the carotenoid absorption depend on that step.

Time to effect

4–8 hrs: Carotenoids from a fat-containing meal appear in circulation.
Per tablespoon: Around 150 mg potassium and 200 mcg beta-carotene.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Environmental footprint

2.1 kg CO2e and 370 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Tomatoes" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 66
Protein: 3.1g
Carbohydrate: 10.4g
of which sugars: 9.9g
Fat: 0.3g
Fibre: 3.5g
Sodium: 630mg

Food vs. supplement

Tomato paste is the argument against treating "processed" as a single category. Nothing was added and only water was removed, which is why it ends up denser in potassium, carotenoid and fibre than the fresh fruit it came from.

Kitchen tip

Fry it in a little oil for a minute before adding liquid. It deepens the flavour, and the fat is what the carotenoids need to be absorbed.

Common myth

“Anything in a jar on the sauce shelf is processed junk.” In reality: Tomato paste is reduced tomato and nothing else — no added sugar at all, and the potassium, beta-carotene, vitamin B6 and fibre are all concentrated in proportion as the water goes. The only additive worth noting is salt at 630 mg per 100 g, and no-added-salt versions sit beside it on the same shelf. It is the counter-example to the whole category.