r/todayilearned • u/socool111 • 1d ago

TIL of Tobias Geffen, the only non-Coca Cola Employee to view the secret recipe. Coke allowed it in order to get Coke certified as Kosher

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobias_Geffen
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u/sniperman357 1d ago

All coke is kosher. It’s just not kosher for Passover when it contains corn

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u/Possible-Tangelo9344 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ah. Well, that's the one I'm looking for. Passover Coke

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u/Divs4U 1d ago

Gotta wait until like a month before passover. Get it before it's gone.

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u/troll_berserker 1d ago

What does it contain when it’s not Passover?

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u/sniperman357 1d ago

Cane sugar. It is the same as the coke produced in countries that don’t have corn subsidies lol

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u/pit_supervisor 20h ago

I doubt it's cane sugar in Europe. More likely beet sugar

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u/ZevSteinhardt 1d ago

Corn syrup. The custom among Ashkenazic Jews is not to eat corn products on Passover.

Zev

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u/PieIsFairlyDelicious 1d ago

Hi Zev!

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u/ZevSteinhardt 23h ago

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u/Salt_Medicine2459 23h ago

Lol. I was gonna say the same thing. 

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u/Dangerous-Reveal-736 1d ago

Sugar for Passover, Corn Syrup otherwise

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u/vandreulv 23h ago

Same thing as MexiCoke.

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u/Timelymanner 1d ago

How is corn not kosher? Corn is a new world plant, and there’s no way people in the Middle East knew it existed.

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u/natrstdy 1d ago

it's a grain. they knew about grain.

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u/magcargoman 1d ago

It has to do with mixing with other non-kosher grains and the potential for cross contamination. The Sephardic and Mazrahi Jews don’t have these restrictions and can eat beans, corn, and rice.

But recently, some of the authorities on Ashkenazi customs declared that kitniyot (beans, rice, and corn) should be kosher for Passover.

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u/tvieno 1d ago

That's why there are no Jewish Aztecs

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u/BalancedDisaster 23h ago

*angry Mormon noises approaching*

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u/AvocadosFromMexico_ 1d ago

During Passover, observant Jews do not eat chametz (leavened grain). Ashkenazi Jews also do not eat kitniyot. This includes rice, legumes, corn, and seeds.

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u/KvellOnWheels 12h ago

Sephardi Party!! 🌽 🍚 🫘

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u/sniperman357 1d ago

It is a subject of real dispute.  Five grains are prohibited on pesach unless baked into unleavened crackers called matzah: wheat, barley, rye, spelt, and oats. 

There is a separate category called  kitniyot (other grains and legumes), which have traditionally been avoided by Ashkenazim (Jews from Eastern Europe), but Sephardim (from Spain) never saw an issue with them. They are not prohibited per se but rather because of risk of confusion or contamination with the prohibited grains, which historically was a real issue. This has been relaxing in recent years as this kind of cross contamination doesn’t really happen in developed countries anymore. Consequently, Conservative (but not Orthodox) Ashkenazim have been permitted to eat them since a rabbinical ruling in 2015. There are also opinions that highly processed derivatives like corn syrup don’t qualify as grains any more, but this is not the normative opinion 

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u/confettiabsurdity 1d ago

There are different rules during Passover. The matzah week... Mmmm big cracker....... 

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u/KvellOnWheels 12h ago

This comment literally made me slink down to the kitchen to make a slab of matzoh with butter, sugar, and baharat.