Wasn't absolutely sure where you were. Read about the quake. So glad you're OK. Hugs.

@ Shammy

Back on track: haven't actually used the canned cherry toms. What do others use them for (as opposed to whole/ diced)?

Why?

Pakman....Post 5 in this thread http://www.jamieoliver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=77160


Seems you were right !!!!!

Don't know about the BPA thing, Snopes classes it as "undetermined" - http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/soupcan.asp - worth keeping an eye on, maybe.

Re. tinned tomatoes and tomato/juice content, I went to the Co-Op today and looked. The only whole peeled tomatoes they had were their standard own brand. Both whole and chopped contained tomatoes (65%) and tomato juice. I think there was an acidity regulator as well, I didn't write that down.

So in that case, the fruit to juice ratio is exactly the same between chopped tomatoes and whole peeled plum tomatoes. Sadly I couldn't check this for other brands, as they only had chopped versions in stock.

As a comparison between the chopped tomatoes, the percentage of "tomatoes" was as follows:

Napolina: 70%
Co-Op standard own brand: 65%
Co-Op Simply Value: 60%

So there is a significant difference between brands. To extrapolate from this very limited data, if you want to avoid your tomatoes being watered down with extra juice, you need to upgrade brands rather than worry about whole vs. chopped.

I am surprised by the thing about passata sometimes containing tomato puree. I've never had that - I checked the passata in the cupboard (cheapskate Lidl passata, honestly, it's not the best) and it is 99.5% tomatoes. No puree. It has added salt, for some unfathomable reason (their tinned tomatoes don't).