I have been thinking about buying barbecue sauce to use as a condiment (to use as a dipping sauce). A local store has many different brands, such as Jack Daniels and others.
Is it safe to consume this sort of pre-made barbecue sauces uncooked (similar to e.g. ketchup or mustard)?
(None of the bottles say that the sauce needs to be heated up before consumption but I thought that I better ask here.)
Unless there is local regulation that requires labelling of items unsafe for raw consumption, the only 100% sure way would be to ask the manufacturer.
However, a non-perishable sauce being unsafe without being boiled, but safe if doing so (just reheating will not matter much anyway!), would be an odd enough ingredient that you could expect a warning on the label. If there was a severe risk of microbial problems, that would either spoil the sauce right in the bottle, or make it unsafe in a way that heat will not fix.
Non-perishable but unsafe raw is more typical of DRY goods, since they can perfectly well harbor spores or small amount of bacteria without actively spoiling.
These products are generally made to be shelf stable and do not require heating. Once opened, you should keep in the refrigerator.
