Every year around this time, yellow-capped Coca-Cola bottles appear in American supermarkets. They differ from normal ones in that they contain sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. It is a product that the United States and Canada only sell during Passover.
What is the Jewish Passover? Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt. It lasts seven days in Israel and eight in the diaspora, the Jewish communities living outside of Israel.
Passover begins on the first night of the full moon after the spring equinox. This year, it falls between April 22 and 30.
Prohibited foods. During Passover, Jews who follow the tradition avoid eating 'chametz', which is any food fermented with yeast or made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelled flour.
Corn is not one of the five grains prohibited by Judaism during Passover, but it falls into the category of 'kitniyot', small grains that Ashkenazi Jews traditionally abstain from at this time.
The case of the United States. The largest diaspora community is in the United States, where 5.8 million Jews live. According to tradition, these people must eliminate all prohibited foods from their homes before the festival begins.
The problem is that, in the United States, most soft drinks are sweetened with corn syrup. Not only because it is the country that produces the most corn in the world, but because its farmers receive important subsidies that end up being reflected in the price of the raw material.
It is much cheaper for American manufacturers to use corn in their products than cane or beet sugar, especially if it is imported, because import tariffs would have to be added.
The yellow cap Coca-Cola. However, around this time, manufacturers such as Coca-Cola 'kosher' products are put on the market (that meet the dietary standards of Judaism) so that Jews can purchase and consume them during Passover.
The best-known example is Yellow Cap Coca-Cola, which uses cane sugar instead of corn syrup, and begins to be sold a few weeks before the Jewish Passover begins.
How it emerged 90 years ago. Kosher Coca-Cola appeared almost 90 years ago in Atlanta when Rabbi Tuvia Geffen noticed that his congregants were having difficulty abstaining from the drink during Passover.
At that time corn syrup was not used, but Coca-Cola ingredients could include cereals among its sweeteners, so the rabbi convinced the brand to exclusively use cane sugar in exchange for a declaration that the soft drink was suitable for Passover.
The kosher certificate. The rabbi's statement that Coca-Cola had been certified kosher was published by TIME magazine in 1935indicating to Orthodox Jews that they could consume the drink during the holy season if the bottle cap bore the kosher symbol.
Today, two-liter bottles of Coca-Cola are identified with yellow caps that bear a kosher Passover symbol from the Orthodox Union, the overseeing agency. Other products such as Lay's potato chips also modify their recipes to be kosher during Passover.
Mexican Coca-Cola. Over time, kosher Coca-Cola has become popular not only among Orthodox Jewsbut also among those who prefer its sweeter flavor to that of Coca-Cola with high fructose corn syrup.
An alternative available all year round is Mexican Coca-Cola, which is made with sugar and is exported to the United States precisely because of its popularity. Of course, it is usually much more expensive than the yellow cap Coca-Cola.
Image | Angel Jimenez de Luis
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