# Kosher Coke for Passover **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 18, 2000, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154 "2000-04-18T20:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/1 "2000-04-19T05:23:00Z")
Last year about this time, several people mentioned that Coke made with sugar (rather than corn syrup) was available in NYC for Passover. My brother just informed me he will be in the City next week and is willing to do a little shopping on my behalf. So, the question is, will the real sugar Coke still be available next week? And if so, could any of you lovely New Yawkers give me directions to a store that has it? Bro says he’ll be staying in the area around 52nd and Broadway. ---
**Author:** ![h\_thur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@h\_thur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h_thur)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/2 "2000-04-19T05:27:00Z")
Aren’t the Mexican Cokes made with sugar, rather than corn syrup? I haven’t had one in a long time, but they are the best! ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/3 "2000-04-19T05:28:00Z")
Raise your hand if you thought this thread was about a religious drug abuser!!! * * * A little persistance goes a long way. Announcing: “I go on guilt trips a couple of time a year. Mom books them for me.” A custom made Wally .sig! ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/4 "2000-04-19T05:36:00Z")
Most stores should have it. I live on the Lower East Side, and the Fine Fare store next door to my apartment building (Clinton between East Broadway and Grand…take F train to East Broadway station) has it. He should just make sure the bottle of Coke he picks up has the Hebrew words “Kosher L’Pesach” on the cap. Don’t know of any stores in midtown, where he’ll be. * * * Chaim Mattis Keller [ckeller@kozmo.com](mailto:ckeller@kozmo.com) “Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible. The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.” – Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/5 "2000-04-18T20:53:00Z")
What is it that makes the corn syrup sweetened Coke non kosher? I’m curious. ---
**Author:** ![SaxFace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@SaxFace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaxFace)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/6 "2000-04-18T20:59:00Z")
I can get the Mexican Coke at the neighborhood Mexican Restaurant. I like it a lot. I can get a different kind of Mexican Coke on the corner of 5th Ave and 22nd Street. ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/7 "2000-04-18T21:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Fleetwood: > \*\*What is it that makes the corn syrup sweetened Coke non kosher? I’m curious. \*\* It’s not that it is not kosher - It’s that corn syrup is prohibited on **Passover**. Short answer - Corn is one of the grains that can ferment and leaven when combined with water. Leavened things are forbidden for Jews to eat on Passover. Long Answer - You see, back when the Jews were slaves in Egypt, the… umm… ah, screw it. You can look up a better answer than I can give you anyway. ## Start here --\>[Ask Cecil: Why can’t you put cornstarch in your Passover cheesecake?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcornsta.html) Note to self: Don’t climb into the ring with **sdimbert**. He’s one of those guys that checks the facts. – **WallyM7** ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/8 "2000-04-18T21:40:00Z")
sdimbert: > [@](#): > > Short answer - Corn is one of the grains that can ferment and leaven when combined with water. Leavened things are forbidden for Jews to eat on Passover. Close…it’s _easily confused with_ the grains that can become leavened, and is therefore prohibited on Passover by Rabbinic decree…it can’t actually become leavened. The mailbag url you provided has that info right. Chaim Mattis Keller ---
**Author:** ![oldscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ed655f/32.png) [@oldscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oldscratch)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/9 "2000-04-18T21:42:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by SwimmingRiddles: > \*\*Raise your hand if you thought this thread was about a religious drug abuser!!! > > \*\* I DID!!! First I thought, I didn’t know Cocainw wasn’t kosher WTF. Then I started thinking, I’ve never had Coke with sugar in it when did they start doing that? ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/10 "2000-04-18T21:51:00Z")
Thank You Sdimbert, CMKeller and Cecil! ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2000, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/11 "2000-04-18T23:44:00Z")
Grr… I heard that a local supermarket brought in some of the nectar, but they were out! :mad: If anyone knows anywwhere in Raleigh or around where I can get some, it would be greatly appreciated!! * * * Yer pal, Satan [http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif](http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif) _TIME ELAPSED SINCE I QUIT SMOKING: One week, two days, 21 hours, 42 minutes and 54 seconds. 396 cigarettes not smoked, saving $49.52. Life saved: 1 day, 9 hours, 0 minutes._ ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/12 "2000-04-19T05:38:00Z")
Here in Baltimore, it usualy comes in bottles with yellow caps. These bottles have a number stencelled on the top, above the lable but below the cap. I suppose that these are lot numbers. In the kosher bottles, they start with “oup” ( don’t have a jewish font}, the rabinical designation for kosher products. I LOVE them, regular ( i.e. corn syrup ) Coke just dosent compair. Frankly, if Coke would market bottles ( yes, _GLASS_ bottles) with kosher Coke year round, I would gladly pay $1.50 or so per bottle to get it. Damn shame they don’t. ☹☹ * * * Cecil said it. I believe it. That settles it. ---
**Author:** ![crackwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@crackwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crackwise)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/13 "2000-04-19T06:18:00Z")
yeah, when it comes to Coke, corn syrup is like Disney - _Evil_. ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/14 "2000-04-19T06:20:00Z")
Chaim - thanks for the clarification - I just thought that Kitniot was a bit too much to get into when I didn’t really want to answer the question anyway. 😉 Chag Kasher VeSameach! **To the rest of you** : Observant Jews have to drink this coke during Passover (if we want Coke); the rest of it is forbidden to us. Do us a favor, will ya? Just wait until after the holiday? Please? 🙂 Mid next-week is OK - we will be about halfway through. THANKS! ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/15 "2000-04-19T07:03:00Z")
Thanks, cmk - I’ve passed your info along to my brother. If I actually get any Coke, I’ll drink a sugary toast to you. oldscratch - you can’t be all _that_ old if you’ve never had “real” Coke. I think some bottlers started using corn syrup in the early eighties, but fructose pretty much replaced sucrose after the great New Coke debacle of 1985 and the introduction of “Classic Coke.” Satan, weirddave, and other connoisseurs of fine cola - I discovered last December that Jamaica is another place you can still get the good stuff. That was a nice surprise. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/16 "2000-04-19T12:07:00Z")
Around Chicago, the Kosher l’Pesach label is printed on the side of the can, not the top, so you have to go looking. It’s not everywhere, but usually is available in grocery stores that have a sizeable pesach section. And, Fleetwood, FYI, the Mailbag Answers are not written by Cecil, but by his loyal Straight Dope Science Advisory Staff… this particular one was written by… um… yes, well, modesty forbids. Hag sameakh! ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/17 "2000-04-20T05:11:00Z")
CKDextHavn - I was referring to the 2-liter bottles, not to cans. Chag Kasher V’Samayach to all of you! 🙂 Chaim Mattis Keller ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/18 "2000-04-19T19:37:00Z")
I GOT SOME! The store had tons, so I don’t feel badly that I am depriving our local practicing Jews. One of the chains here - Harris Teeter for those who would like some - carries them in their special Passover section. 2-litre bottles that say “corn syrup” on the label, but have the Kosher for Passover seal on the yellow (not red) cap. Num, num, num! Now, if I could only get some in glass like I used to back in the Jewish stores in NYC… * * * Yer pal, Satan [http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif](http://www.raleighmusic.com/board/Images/devil.gif) _I HAVE BEEN SMOKE-FREE FOR: One week, three days, 17 hours, 37 minutes and 21 seconds. 429 cigarettes not smoked, saving $53.67. Life saved: 1 day, 11 hours, 45 minutes._ ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/19 "2000-04-19T19:52:00Z")
Sorry about that, CKDextHavn. Thank you, too! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2000, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kosher-coke-for-passover/16154/20 "2000-04-19T22:48:00Z")
Mmm…isn’t Coke with corn syrup only non-kosher for Pesach if you’re Ashkenazi? Making me think…would it be really really horrible if an Ashkenazit (me) kept Sephardi kosher for Pesach? Last year I was in Israel, and that was the norm. I’m not keeping kosher for Pesach at all this year, being home with my parents, who are atheists. ::sigh:: Chag sameach v’kasher l’col od.