1 hour ago · United States
In the 1830s, Americans bought tomato ketchup as medicine after a physician claimed tomatoes could treat indigestion and diarrhoea; pills made from tomato extract were sold across the country before the craze collapsed.
What's happening
SignalsMonitor is following this as a conflict story. Times of India World is the outlet attached so far. The reports are tied to United States. The first report grouped here was at 8 Nov 2026, 08:25 UTC. The headline in use is “In the 1830s, Americans bought tomato ketchup as medicine after a physician claimed tomatoes could treat indigestion and diarrhoea; pills…”. This note is SignalsMonitor's own briefing, not the publisher's article.
What we know
In the 1830s, Dr John Cook Bennett suggested that tomatoes had medicinal properties for treating digestive issues. This led to the creation of tomato extract pills sold as medicine by various entrepreneurs.
Story timeline
Reports grouped into this story, earliest first. Exact repeats from the same outlet are collapsed.
Reported by 1 outlet
- Times of India