Canned Tomatoes and Calcium Chloride

[shel]

Lately I have been buying canned Italian tomatoes, non-organic and organic D.O.P San Marzano, and non D.O.P. San Marzano and similar tomatoes, organic and non-organic. Wow! They are so much better than canned American tomatoes. All of them have a fresher, more lively taste than any American canned tomato I've tried. I'm pretty close to finding a brand that will be my "standard" canned tomato, with the exception of some specialty tomatoes, like Muir Glen whole Fire Roasted tomatoes which I definitely like in certain soups and stews.

That said, I noticed that the Italian tomatoes have far less salt than the American tomatoes I'd been using, less by a factor of 10 or so. Quite a big difference. Also, the Italian tomotoes contain no calcium chloride, an ingredient that all the the American tomotoes I've tried contain. So, what's the purpose of the calcium chloride? The Italian tomatoes seem to do very well without it. Does the ingredient add to the saltiness of the product? Are there any organic American tomatoes that you know of that don't contain calcium chloride?

Thanks,

Shel

[nofifi]

Canned tomatoes have various things added to them to act as preservatives (usually salt and citric acid) and firming agents such as calcium chloride. The more processed the tomato for canning — that is, chopped versus whole — the more chloride is added. This may explain the slightly chlorine taste of some brands of tomatoes.

[Ishbel]

All the tinned tomatoes sold in the UK seem to be tinned in Italy. Even the cheapest 'own-brand' ones from the supermarket chains.