[Sca-cooks] Heinz Chili Sauce

[M+D: Mary and Doug Piero Carey]

There is chili pepper in Heinz Chili Sauce!  Some weeks ago I called the 
800 number on the bottle and talked to a nice but VERY uniformative young 
man.  The way I put the question to him was: "Can you tell me if there are 
actually chili peppers, or any derivative of chili peppers in this product?  I've 
read the label very carefully, and it does not list them.  I am cooking for 
someone who is allergic to them, and we really need to know."  We agreed 
that while one would expect them in a sauce named chili sauce, we 
couldn't make any assumptions. We both came up with examples of things 
that DON'T have the item named on the label in the package.  (Hot Dog 
Relish, for one.)  He then put me on hold several times, while he searched 
ingredient lists, databases, called the test kitchen, and several different 
departments, and came up blank.  He then took my #, and promised to get 
back to me.  It took a good 10 days, but I finally came home to find a 
message on the machine, telling me that, "yes, someone who is allergic to 
chili peppers, would react to Heinz chili sauce."

Note the careful phrasing.  I don't know whether the poor dear has just been 
so conditioned not to answer an ingredient question that he couldn't spit it 
out, or if that was the legal department talking.  At any rate, I think we can 
assume some type of chili product in Heinz Chili Sauce.

Yours in the service of curiosity!

Maria