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Though Passover does not start until sunset on Wednesday, April 8, "Passover Coke" is currently for sale in local stores.
Only available in two liter bottles, Passover Coke is made with REAL sugar and not the cheaper American alternative, high fructose corn syrup. The bottles are distinguished by their bright yellow caps and have the symbol "OU-P" written on top.
Most of the world uses real sugar in their sodas, and it's much yummier and doesn't last 800 years on a shelf so you don't feel as guilty drinking it.
But once Passover is over, you can usually find similar concoctions in Mexican groceries (or even a Costco or two), because they like to maintain the high quality of their sodas.
Comments
Mexican coke may use real sugar but it also uses a concentrated mix of other coke ingredients - which really hinders the taste. I'll take HFCS over concentrated other ingredients. Happy Passover, though!
The use of sugar instead of HFCS in Mexican soda has nothing to do with quality standards. Instead, the cane sugar industry in Mexico is deeply entrenched and cane sugar is cheaper there for a variety of reasons. Efforts to switch to HFCS in Mexico have also been thwarted by a variety of political factors. I'm as anti-HFCS as the next guy, but if you are going to play journalist on the internet I suggest doing some research into your facts first.
Thanks for the information about the best places to find Passover Coke. I recently read a newspaper article touting that companies are slowly switching back to real sugar because consumers are complaining. Best effort would be to complain constantly to these corporations that are compromising the health of our country. No, they aren't forcing it down our collective throats, but affordable choice options make more sense to me. Perhaps they should be the ones paying for our high insurance costs or simply switch back to ingredients that have traditionally been shown to be less harmful. Stepping down off my soapbox now.
I thought this article was going to be about the illicit substance, not the happy time fun beverage. I am very disappointed.
It also comes in cans.
I work in a grocery store (in Canada) and I noticed last year that there were bottles of 2L Coke that had yellow stickers stating that they were kosher.
The use of HFCS has alot to do with the US embargo of Cuba. No access to Cuban sugar means that our price for sugar is higher than that of Mexico and Canada. That plus all the corn subsidies we lavish on US farmers.
High fructose corn syrup is REAL sugar. Its just a more refined version from corn rather then from cain and since more of America can grow corn it is a more abundant thus cheaper. Now I'm not saying that I like the fact that every friggen juice is filled with the stuff, but calling it a FAKE sugar is just propagandist.
I suggest that everyone that thinks like Eric should refuse to eat food or use energy grown by a farmer. That will teach the farmers!
This is asinine. What does corn have to do with what's kosher or not? What ancient Jewish dietary laws ban corn? Corn is native to the Western hemisphere--the Jews of the old and new testament never even HEARD of corn.
Gill Avila, this particular sugar-based Coke is Kosher for Passover, not just simply kosher. (I believe that Coke in general is certified kosher.) Corn, along with all fruits and vegetables, is permissible under strict Jewish dietary rules.
Kosher for Passover means that the product contains no ingredients that could possibly have fermented at any point in its manufacture or storage or have come in contact with fermented products. Corn can ferment, hence HFCS is not kosher for Passover. (Ashkanazi and Sephardic Jews differ on what grains are on the watch list, so to speak, but that goes beyond this discussion.)
By tradition and story (and let's not argue here whether the event actually happened), this rule is based on the haste with which the Jews fled Egypt, with no time to leaven (i.e., ferment) their bread. Therefore, as a reminder, Jews today eat matzo and, by extension, no leavened food during the eight days of Passover.
That said, I most certainly can tell the difference between the sugar-based and HFCS-based product here in the U.S., and much prefer the former.
the Passover Coke at my local supermarket has sucralose, not sugar listed on the label.
Richard--
You beat me to it... thanks. And, yeah, "regular" Coke with corn syrup is kosher for the rest of the year. Kosher l'pesach Coke only comes from one or two bottling plants--it's quite hard to find some places outside NY.
Thanks for the information Richard. I never even considered anything like that.
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