Thanks to the Kosher Coke thread, I thought I’d go buy some. I’d told my best friend about it, and we went to the local grocery store. They had it in six-packs. I picked up two (at a price of $1.99 each) and headed toward the cash register. My friend checked the label first, to see what it said, and was surprised to see that the label ingredients listed “corn syrup” and not cane sugar as an ingredient. Needless to say, we did not buy the Coke.
It was explained to me later that Coke just doesn’t bother to change the labels when making Kosher Coke, due to the fact that it would cost even more. Thing is, if they have to add the Kosher symbol (I didn’t check to see if these cans had it) to the cans anyway, wouldn’t it be a good idea to change the ingredients too? Doesn’t the FDA regulate these things very strictly? Was the grocery store trying to rip me off, or was this real Kosher Coke with an unchanged ingredients listing?
I can tell you that at every sedar I’ve been to for Passover, we’ve only ever gotten the kosher Coke in a 2-liter plastic bottle that has a special yellow plastic screw cap saying it’s kosher (they’re usually white caps that don’t say anything as I recall). I have not heard of it being available in a 6-pack form, though that may just be in my area (Southern California). I’ve honestly never looked at the ingredients to confirm the ‘corn syrup’ issue. I suspect the clerk at the store saw that the ‘kosher Coke’ section was getting low and didn’t realize there was a difference, so he put the regular cans there to re-stock it.
Relevant past threads:
[ul][li]Corn Syrup and Kosher Coca-Cola[/li][li]New Cherry Coke[/ul][/li]
According to the info in the first thread, they don’t change the labels, but bottles get new bottle caps. For cans, the equivalent would be stamping the top of the can (expensive) or putting the cans in a different colored six-pack plastic-ring-thing. I guess.
BTW, thanks for bringing more fascinating knowledge to my brain - I had no clue that there was such a thing as ‘kosher for passover’ Coke.
I’d give my left buns-cheek for a Wally sig.
Okay, after further perusal, we found the stamp on the tops of the cans. So yes, Kosher Coke does come in six-packs.
However, what of the labels that still say the stuff contains corn syrup? Doesn’t the FDA have rather strict regulations about what companies say goes into their products? Isn’t this technically against some sort of government code?
My guess is they say (or should say) something like “Call 1800koshercoke for nutrition info”, which I believe to be legal as I’ve found plenty of small sample size products that do not have nutrition facts listed. Alternatively, they could put a little sticker on the can or sixpack saying something like “Ingredients: Sucrose substituted for corn syrup” and that should cover it, since the calories etc. are the same.
If it is illegal, the choices people likely have are a) not caring about it being illegal, or b) not ever having kosher coke again. I don’t think Coke would eat the cost, and I don’t think anyone would pay the $10 a sixpack or how ever much it would cost to make proper cans for the small amount consumed.
The labels I’ve looked at say “Corn Syrup and/or sucrose”. Obviously, the ones certified as Kosher for Passover contain the sucrose only.
Chaim Mattis Keller
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