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I have Hunts 100% natural no salt added tomato sauce. There is only one variety that Huntz makes that says "Tomato Sauce".

I am wondering how much baking soda will be enough to neutralize the acid. The can is exactly 8 ounces.

Sedumjoy
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    If you added that much soda, the sauce is gonna taste terrible. – FuzzyChef Jan 05 '23 at 19:17
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    Why would you want to do this? As FuzzyChef points out, it's going to taste awful. – Popup Jan 06 '23 at 09:59
  • @Popup....yes I just realized this after I wrote it. sorry. I love spaghetti but my stomach burns when I eat anything with tomato paste in it. So I had the idea I could neutralize the acid but the sauce would probably taste like baking soda which is very aweful. – Sedumjoy Jan 06 '23 at 15:48
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    You might try calcium carbonate rather than sodium bicarbonate. It's more alkaline so you could use less and the flavor is not as strong. – user3486184 May 11 '23 at 05:24
  • Thank you and you are so right. sodium bicarbonate can even be very dangerous. The calcium carbonate would be better but as all things always run it by a doctor. It's not a one size fits all. In may case the doctor advised not to take tums which is calcium carbonate because my calcium blood level was normal but on the high end of the normal range. I have since then decided to abandon tomatoes and i feel better. Apparently my stomach cannot digest tomato for some reason. – Sedumjoy May 11 '23 at 19:12
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    Also note that there is precedence of cases where acid reflux results as a commorbid reaction in those with *insufficiently* acidic gastric acid. These individuals tend to have a history of attempting to counteract the symptoms using antacids and exacerbating the reaction instead. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, they are actually advised to consume controlled doses of, e.g., apple cider vinegar. However, we cannot issue medical advice here, so you would obviously need to consult your medical practitioner to rule out the possibility. – Arctiic May 16 '23 at 05:55
  • @Arctic. Thank you for being most gracious and alerting me to the potential problem. I will look into that possibility furher. – Sedumjoy May 17 '23 at 13:24

2 Answers2

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It is not possible to solve this analytically and give an answer, because tomato sauce is not a simple solution of a single acid in water, but more complex - and besides, producers tend to keep the exact amounts of ingredients a trade secret.

If you want to neutralize the acid, you will have to use a pH meter of some kind (the paper strips will not be a good choice though, because the tomato will likely color them) and titrate.

rumtscho
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  • Thank you. I like your suggestion. Use a pH meter. Your answer is very logical and I feel rather stupid for not realizing it straight away. Even if you have their ingredients list you will never know what amounts they use so it would be impossible to tell without a meter. – Sedumjoy Jan 03 '23 at 20:35
  • Thank you. As it turns out my stomach is sensitive to tomato so no worries I gave up the tomatoes and feel much better now. – Sedumjoy May 11 '23 at 19:22
  • The pH meters one purchases for consumer or regular commericial use cases are notoriously difficult to certify/recalibrate to reasonably accurate error tolerances. Actual labratory equipment for chem testing are significantly more sophisticated and prohibitively expensive, in industrial settings it's common to either construct an in-house lab or to contract out to a certified lab for product development phase testing or ongoing retention sampling tests. – Arctiic May 16 '23 at 05:59
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When I make spaghetti sauce for two people I use a pinch. Less than 1/8 tsp. You can see as you are stir it in that is neutralizing the acid and leaves no after taste that I can detect.

willille
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  • Thank you. I have a sensitive stomach to tomato so I have to give it up. But I am OK with that no worries. But be careful with the sodium bicarbonate. It is considered a medicine and depending on your health condition ad age it may not be good so it is always best to ask a doctor – Sedumjoy May 11 '23 at 19:21