OK, this has got me really curious!!
Some large Supermarkets in the UK sell Kosher Coke, Fanta, Sprite etc. Its usually in the Organ Specialty Foods section. So there is a difference between ordinary Soft Drinks and Kosher ones.
So I found this through Google (can't contact my rabbi friend right now!):
***Is Coca-Cola kosher ?
Richard V. Nawrocki (rivina@dorsai.org) provides this information:
It is indeed true that (Classic) Coke is certified as kosher. (I can't vouch for other kinds, but since soft drinks contain no animal products, I would assume that the other non-diet varieties of Coke are kosher too, and probably even the diet varieties, if artificial sweeteners get the nod.)
However, there is a difference between "Kosher" and "Kosher for Passover". Since corn (and hence corn syrup) is not kosher *during Passover,* Coke which is Kosher for Passover is *guaranteed* to contain *real sugar!*
Since many people believe that Coke tastes much better when sweetened with sugar as compared to corn syrup, catching a mother lode of Coke around Passover time is a good way to get a more perfect product. But apparently only communities with some threshold number of Jewish people get the stuff from the distributors, hence "the search"...***
Stuart, I don't know if you're in the US or UK, but if it's the US, this would answer your question. If you've seen kosher labeled Coke in the UK, it's specially labeld or even imported. I say this because I've just checked our bottle and it has sugar but no kosher label!
Maureen, thanks for posting this in the first place! I always find these things interesting. I, too, am not really bothered by the 'difference' over here. But your friend was right......technically, it is kosher coke here!
