Kosher Coke Contains Real Sugar
March 8, 2013 at 1:00 pm Chad Upton 14 comments
By Chad Upton | Editor
In many countries, Coca-Cola and most other soft drinks, are sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). This is not real sugar from cane or beets, it is a processed sweetener made from corn that is almost identical to natural sugar.
There have been some debates and studies about whether or not HFCS is bad for us. Without getting into it, I will say that some people don’t have a problem eating HFCS and other people do.
The reasons for avoiding HFCS vary widely and one of them has led to Kosher Coke. Because high fructose corn syrup is made from corn (a grain) it cannot be consumed by (Orthodox) Ashkenazi Jews who refrain from eating grains during passover.
You can spot Kosher Coke by the yellow cap on the bottle (white in Chicago). It typically has a Kosher certification symbol and sometimes Hebrew characters. If you live near Cleveland the local bottler never switched to HFCS, so check the ingredients — your Coke might be perma-Kosher.
Whether you’re Jewish or not, you may want Kosher Coke because it has real sugar. But, Kosher Coke is not available everywhere. You may be able to find Mexican coke, which is popular in many American grocery stores, and it’s made with real cane sugar instead of corn sugar. There is also Pepsi Throwback, made with real sugar.
You may be wondering why they don’t use real sugar all the time? The answer is quite simple: it’s cheaper to process corn into sugar than import real sugar. Therefore, Pepsi Throwback usually costs slightly more than regular Pepsi. If you can find Kosher Coke this time of year then you’re actually getting a good deal since it’s typically the same price as regular Coke.
Broken Secrets | Facebook | Twitter | Email | Kindle
Photo: BenFrantzDale (cc)
Sources: wikipedia (maize, ashkenazi jews, coca cola)
Entry filed under: Food and Drink, Health and Beauty. Tags: coca-cola, coke, hfcs, jewish, passover, sugar.
14 Comments Add your own
Leave a comment
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed
Broken Secrets 
1.
Anita B | March 8, 2013 at 8:04 pm
Are there any other soft drinks that do this? I try to stay away from HFCS as much as possible, but I do like the occasional soft drink. I don’t like Coke, though.
2.
Chad Upton | March 9, 2013 at 9:36 am
I’m sure there are others, but off the top of my head I know two other soft drinks that do not contain HFCS: Mountain Dew Throwback and Bawls Original (not Root Beer or Cherry).
3.
sarah | March 10, 2013 at 5:07 pm
here in texas, we love mexican coke and the old dublin dr pepper!!! great post :-)
4.
wendy | March 11, 2013 at 8:41 am
*just couldn’t resist!
5.
Anita B | March 11, 2013 at 1:21 pm
I saw that a few months ago! The things people come up with!
6.
Chana | March 11, 2013 at 2:42 pm
It’s actually only made with sugar around passover hence the yellow cap. Coke is kosher all year that has Corn Syrup in it but because Corn cannot be used on passover they make a special run with just sugar. (I wait all year for it!)
7.
Troglodyke | March 18, 2013 at 11:20 am
“Mexican” Coke (available in glass bottles), Fanta Orange, and Sprite are also available in Wal-Mart. They have sugar, too.
8.
Graeme | March 23, 2013 at 1:51 am
Canadian Coke is made with real sugar as well…tastes sooo much better. Up here we’re not as hellbent on using corn for everything.
9.
Chad Upton | March 27, 2013 at 8:05 am
Actually, Canada and the UK use high fructose corn syrup as well, but it’s hard to tell because they call it “Glucose/Fructose” in Canada and add “syrup” to that name in the UK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-fructose_corn_syrup
10.
Brooke | November 22, 2013 at 5:56 pm
No Its not. We use Sucrose-Fructose in Canada, and the Canadian Sugar Association(yes, people are paid for that) states that in Canada, HFCS is Sucrose-fructose. I was under that assumption as well, and brought my own Coke when I travelled to the USA. I always said Mexi-Coke is the best!
11.
BillyBobThorton | June 14, 2013 at 7:17 am
Anything that is made from corn, and from the united states is a poison. All corn in USA is GMO, GMO is deadly and causes cancer, look up on youtube , scientific studies on rats who ate dried up gmo corn, and you will see that GMO is the number One reason why Americans have the highest Cancer rates on the planet. And Coca-cola is a terrorist organization. If you drink coke you support terrorism
12.
DrJamesRustler | June 26, 2013 at 12:55 am
Oh so corn isn’t “natural”
13.
jsg | July 7, 2013 at 7:10 pm
Fructose (in HFCS) is not sugar (but chemically, it is a sugar). What we think of as sugar (aka table sugar), made from cane or beet, is sucrose. Using large amounts of fructose is bad for your health, which is why HFCS is something you’ll want to avoid. You’d normally encounter fructose from fruit, but not in the concentrations you would in the chemically produced HFCS.
14.
Jeff | July 14, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Coke from Mexico is easy to find but it costs $1 per 12oz bottle when you can find it on sale. Krogers and Walmart usually always have it for a buck. Target about $1.19. Only place you can get in cheaper (besides in Mexico) is Costco but you have to buy a case and it brings it down to $0.75, Jarritos, another Mexican cola sold here sometimes goes on sale for 2 for a $1 at Krogers. Other “gourmet” cane sugar sodas in 4 packs still end up costing a buck a bottle.
Pepsi Throwback on the hand is sold in 12oz cans. 12 packs frequently go on sale at Target so it can cost $0.25 a can or less.
Now, especially being in Atlanta I know people who are die hard Coke fans will not drink Pepsi regardless of cost,,,, but I’m not trying to start a cola battle here – basically just saying you get real caned up cola from Coke’s #1 competitor at a much cheaper price. I plan on giving taste tests to guests between hfcs Coke and Pepsi Throwback with cane..