Heinz Indian Relish: Labelgrade C (64/100)

The short answer

Heinz Indian Relish is a sweet-style flavor add-on, not a food — 0g of protein, 0g of fiber, and 20 calories per 1 Tbsp (USDA FDC 1600502). With no nutrition to chase, the C (64 / 100) rides on two numbers: 3g of sugar and 95mg of sodium per tablespoon. Saturated fat is a clean zero. The 3g of sugar is gentler than ketchup’s 4g or barbecue sauce’s 15g, which is why this is the highest-graded of the three condiments here — and because relish gets spooned rather than poured, that 3g tends to stay 3g.

Why this Labelgrade

How it compares

A sweet relish, where the sugar isn’t coming from the cucumber

“Indian Relish” sounds savory, but it’s a sweet, tangy condiment — and the label tells you exactly how it got that way. The base is genuinely a vegetable: pickles and cabbage lead the ingredient list, which is a better start than a sauce built on corn syrup. But the second ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup, and that’s where the 3g of sugar per tablespoon comes from. The cucumber isn’t sweetening this; the syrup is. That’s the difference between a plain dill relish, which carries almost no sugar, and a sweet relish like this one.

The rest of the list is where this earns its “flavor add-on, not a food” framing. Alongside the turmeric that gives it the golden color, you’ll find alum, xanthan gum, polysorbate 80, and FD&C Yellow No. 5 & Blue No. 1 — texture, emulsifier, and color additives that do nothing nutritionally and are the reason the ingredient-quality grade lands at a middling C+ (69). None of that is alarming in a teaspoon of relish on a hot dog. It’s just worth knowing this is an engineered condiment, not a jar of pickled vegetables.

Spooned, not poured — which is why it grades better than the sauces

Here’s the quiet advantage relish has over ketchup and barbecue sauce: you spoon it, you don’t pour it. A condiment’s real-world damage isn’t set by what’s in it so much as how much of it ends up on your plate, and relish is self-limiting. A tablespoon on a hot dog, a scoop folded into tuna or egg salad — these land close to the labeled serving, so the 3g of sugar and 95mg of sodium stay 3g and 95mg. Compare that to barbecue sauce, where nobody measures and the serving balloons; that gap is a big part of why relish grades C (64) and a sweet BBQ sauce grades C- (56).

So the honest verdict is genuinely relaxed. As condiments go, this is one of the lower-sugar, more measured ways to add a sweet-tangy hit to a sandwich or a cookout plate. If you want to trim even the modest sugar, a plain dill or sour relish drops it to near zero while keeping the crunch — but for most people, a spoonful of this now and then is exactly the kind of small thing that isn’t worth worrying about.

Scope

This page covers Heinz Indian Relish, UPC 01362408, as represented in USDA Branded Foods FDC 1600502. Heinz sells multiple variants in this product line — other sizes, flavors, or fat levels may have different macros and Labelgrade scores. Manufacturers periodically reformulate; always cross-reference the actual package label, especially if you have allergies or dietary restrictions.

Ingredients (from the USDA Branded Foods entry)

PICKLES (CUCUMBERS, SALT, CALCIUM CHLORIDE), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CABBAGE (CABBAGE, SALT), DISTILLED WHITE VINEGAR, ALUM, XANTHAN GUM, DEHYDRATED RED BELL PEPPERS, EXTRACTIVE OF TURMERIC, NATURAL FLAVORING, FD&C YELLOW NO. 5 & BLUE NO. 1, POLYSORBATE 80.

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Scope: This page applies specifically to Indian Relish · UPC 01362408. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.