Ketchup is an important source of tomato antioxidants in human nutrition, this ambient stable product is processed using several relatively important heat treatments and can be stored for one or more years at ambient temperature. Model storage experiments were carried out with two sets of commercial ketchup produced according to the Czech recipe: (a) hot-filled without subsequent pasteurization and (b) filled and pasteurized in the jar. The samples were stored at 25, 50, 75 and 90 degrees C, during the storage the content of total lycopene and ascorbic acid was observed as well as the colour parameters (a*, Delta E). The obtained data were processed using the pseudo first order (total lycopene, ascorbic acid and a*) and zero order kinetics (Delta E). The obtained results corresponded with the published data, but were not consistent between the both sets of the samples. The total lycopene and ascorbic acid degradation is more dependent on the conditions in the product, mainly on the previous history of heat treatment. The colour parameters, especially Delta E seemed to be more robust criterion, which could be used for the shelf life prediction estimation. The empirically set up shelf life by the producer was confirmed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.