#8 in a Series Examining Every Item on the Beloit Mindset List

Ketchup has always been a vegetable. (Class of 2003, #36)

In 1981, the USDA proposed reclassifying ketchup as a vegetable in subsidized school lunch program requirements. The proposal was criticized and ridiculed. It was never enacted. Thus, ketchup was never a vegetable for the Class of 2003.

Adams, Cecil. 2004. “Did the Reagan-era USDA really classify ketchup as a vegetable?” The Straight Dope, July 16.