14 DAY TRIAL // A 19-year-old student from Lincoln, England, has one of the weirdest food habits – she eats ketchup like there is no tomorrow. Melissa Ibbitson is clearly the number one fan of the red sauce, since she eats her own body weight in tomato sauce every year.
Melissa loves the ketchup so much that she combines it with every single meal, even with salads and roast dinners. So, she eats tomato sauce at least three times a day, adding to a total of 75 kilograms (165 Pounds) of the condiment every year.
She has been a ketchup fan her whole life, but her addiction reached a higher level four years ago. Now, the theology student gets through three bottles a week and, with the average bottle of ketchup costing $3 (€2,17), she spends about $500 (€362) a year to satisfy her addiction.
Her favorite brand is Heinz, and she gathers all the sachets they give you for free when you buy fast-food. The student usually asks for 12 bags of ketchup and takes home the extra ones. Although she also likes other condiments, nothing compares to her love for tomato sauce.
“I started eating ketchup when I was a kid and we first went to McDonalds. I can't remember how it became such an obsession but now I can't live without it,” said Melissa to Daily Mail.
“When I lived at home my mum used to get annoyed with me. I would get through the ketchup quicker than she could get to the shop to buy it. Since I've moved out and have been making my own meals I've got even worse,” she added.
She confesses she is concerned about her weird food obsession and the health risks it poses.
“I eat so much of the stuff – I dread to think what it’s doing to my body,” said the young woman.
Her obsession went so far that she even received ketchup-themed Christmas gifts and had a ketchup-shaped cake on her birthday. She has an “I love ketchup” tea towel, a personalized ketchup bottle and a ketchup-bottle shaped tin.
However, she doesn't go the way of Barry Levinson, a man so obsessed with mustard he shaves and brushes his teeth with it. He loves mustard so much that he wears only yellow clothing. Levison is the owner of the largest mustard collection in the world, which he displays at a museum in Middleton, Wisconsin.