An allergic reaction to tomatoes is often the result of oral allergy syndrome, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Tomatoes are extremely high in ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is a powerful antioxidant, but it also can make for unpleasantly acidic tomato sauce. Fixing acidic sauce is possible, but it takes a little bit of adjusting and experimenting.

Oxalate is a chemical compound that occurs naturally in almost every plant to some degree, including fruit, vegetable and grain plants. Oxalate is usually located in leaves or bark, where the compound binds with calcium to remove it when plants go through their seasonal shedding.

Meatloaf gets a bad rap in American culture, but it wasn’t always that way. During the lean years of World War II, ground beef was relatively inexpensive and breadcrumbs and eggs stretched a little bit of meat along way. President Harry Truman famously called meatloaf and tomato sauce his favorite meal, "Cooking Light"

Tomatoes provide significant amounts of vitamin C, potassium, lycopene and other nutrients, in a very low-calorie package. Their calorie count depends on several variables, including color and size.

Few things are more frustrating than putting time and energy into a recipe only to have it turn out badly. While low-quality ingredients, the wrong heat setting and poor technique can each befoul a perfect dish, when you're cooking with tomatoes, the pan you choose counts, too.

Cooked tomato products can be many different things, including stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and ketchup. Tomatoes fall into the category of red and orange vegetables, and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 recommends people eat more of them.

When the bounty of fresh-picked tomatoes overflows in late summer, a quick solution is to put all the extras in the freezer. This home preservation method simply requires rinsing, cutting out the cores and setting the tomatoes on a pan to freeze individually.

The United States produced more than 32 million pounds of tomatoes in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Although the versatile tomato is horticulturally a fruit, most people use tomatoes as a vegetable in salads or Italian dishes.

According to EatPasta.org, a website from the National Pasta Association dedicated to providing interesting facts about pasta, more than 1.4 billion pounds of dry pasta was consumed in the United States in 2009.

Steaming tomatoes allows you to easily remove the skins for use in sauces, soups, stews and other recipes. You can also steam the tomatoes as a prelude to canning and other forms of preservation.

Tomato sauce is used as a base for many dishes, including pasta, soups, pizza and Mexican foods. Tins and jars of tomato sauce line grocery store shelves, but making sauce from fresh tomatoes gives the finished product a more intense tomato flavor.