Kalim Kassam recently reminded me that Coca-Cola puts out Kosher Coke around Passover:
Kosher Coca Cola produced for Passover is sold in 2-liter bottles with a yellow cap marked with an OU-P, indicating that the Orthodox Jewish Union certifies the soda as Kosher for Passover, or with a white cap with a CRC-P indicating that the certification is provided by the Chicago Rabbinical Council.
While the usual Coca-Cola formula is kosher (the original glycerin from beef tallow having been replaced by vegetable glycerin), during Passover Ashkenazi Jews do not consume kitniyot, which prevents them from consuming high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
So, what’s kitniyot?
The Torah (Exodus 13:3) prohibits Jews from eating leaven (chametz) during Passover. Technically, chametz is only leaven made from the “five grains”: wheat, spelt, barley, shibbolet shu’al (two-rowed barley, according to Maimonides; oats according to Rashi) or rye; although there are additional rabbinic prohibitions against eating these grains in any form other than matzo.
Among traditional Ashkenazi Jews, the custom during Passover is to refrain from not only products of the five grains but also kitniyot. Literally “small things,” such as other grains and legumes. Traditions of what is considered kitniyot vary from community to community but generally include maize (North American corn), as well as rice, peas, lentils, and beans.
Costco has Coke with sugar in bottles, 24 for $19. Probably seasonal.
Not seasonal at our Costco. Regularly stocked, regularly purchased. Only Coke™ worth drinking.
I vaguely recall stories of Mexican Coke, sweetened with sugar, being sold at Costo, maybe just near the border. Is this an American product you’re buying? Is it marketed as HFCS-free?
Only borders are NC and MD. As for HFCS, I will check next time there, but with the present state of my brain that would be a shaky bet.
Costcos in Oregon often sell Mexican Coke in cases of 24 for about 17-18 dollars. Winco also occasionally sells them, for about 88 cents a bottle. Costco in Florida doesn’t appear to carry them. They’re not seasonal, but only some Costcos seem to carry them.
If high doses of fructose are indeed the problem with our modern American diet, then I suppose we need dextrose-sweetened Coke. Is there a holiday for that?