Glenn Geada, age 10, of South River, N.J., for his question

WHERE DID THE WORD CATCHUP COME FROM?

Lots of people like that spiced sauce called catchup which is made from tomatoes. The name came from the Orient from a word pronounced like " kaychup."

Catchup is often spelled catsup, katchup or ketchup. All of the spellings are considered correct by various food experts.

Catchup is made of tomato pulp, sugar, salt, mustard, vinegar and spices. There is no standard recipe for the sauce. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, has come up with a "standard of identity.'' This official report specifies what optional ingredients may be included in catchup by the various manufacturers. The maximum amounts of some ingredients, such as dextrose, are spelled out in the standard of identity.