Once a year, Coca-Cola made with real sugar is available stateside in mainstream stores such as Target. An Orthodox Jewish man explains why in a viral TikTok.
What makes the yellow-capped Coca-Cola different than the normal ones?
Couple Moses and Zippora (@mosesandzippora) mainly take their more than 687,000 followers into a glimpse of their “Jewish Hasidic life.” In the clip, as Moses strolls through Target, he pauses in front of a section of yellow-capped, 2-liter Coca-Cola bottles. He picks one up and spins it in his hands. “Don’t open this one. Not until Passover,” he says. “Why are there yellow caps on this one Coke but on other Coca Colas regular caps? Because this Coca-Cola has no corn syrup.”
During Passover, which is April 12-20 this year, Jewish people who celebrate the holiday avoid consuming corn. “This one is a special run that Coca-Cola does just for the Jewish people who celebrate Passover. And they put real sugar,” he explains.
“Can we see the ingredients?” Zippora asks from behind the camera. When Moses turns the bottle around, he points to the ingredients stamped in white. “‘Cane sugar’ and ‘caramel color,’” he reads off the list. “This is kosher for Passover and a lot of people stock up on them.”
He picks up three bottles and places them in his cart.
Zippora then zooms-in on a bottle cap printed with Hebrew letters in red. “Look what the cap says, ‘Kosher.’ I know it says ‘Kosher Mesa’ right here,’” Moses reads the print out loud.
Kosher refers to foods and beverages that meet the requirements of Jewish dietary law like how the food is prepared and how it should be eaten. As a result, this soda received the kosher stamp of certification.
The Daily Dot reached out to the couple via TikTok comment and direct message as well as Coca-Cola via press email for more information.
Kosher or not, however, viewers were into the yellow-capped bottles.
‘This needs to be an everyday thing’
Most viewers wanted real sugar as opposed to high-fructose corn syrup.
“I wish they would do this year round. I would buy that over the corn syrup blend,” one viewer remarked.
“This needs to be an everyday thing! High fructose corn syrup is trash and sugar soda tastes way better,” another echoed.
Making Americans jealous, international commenters noted that Coca-Cola in their country has real sugar.
“so basically normal coke? im european btw,” one commenter stated.
“In Philippines the COKE here is made with real sugar,” a second commented.
(The U.S. is the only country that uses high-fructose corn syrup in its domestic Coke.)
Why did Coca-Cola switch to high-fructose corn syrup?
With the excessive production of corn subsidies in the 1970s and 1980s, it became the cheaper option. By 1984, the company made the switch domestically.
“Because of the laws to encourage the use of our own domestic sugar supplies (such as those from Hawaii), it is very expensive to import cheaper foreign sugar into the U.S. Conversely, because of farm subsidies, the price of corn in our country is artificially low,” notes Obesity Action Coalition.
High fructose corn syrups effects
There are several health issues linked to this sweetener, especially consumed in large accounts, including, per Healthline:
- Obesity
- High insulin levels
- Type 2 diabetes
- Inflammation
- Heart disease
- Cancer
So, it may not be the worst idea to target the yellow-capped Coca-Cola. But keep in mind: The fan-favorite Mexican Coke, also made with real sugar, is often available in the U.S. wherever soda is sold.
But real sugar or not, one 12-ounce bottle of Mexican Coke contains 39 grams of sugar. That may be kosher, but it certainly isn’t healthy.
@mosesandzippora Did you know that there is a special run of Coca Cola with yellow bottle caps and cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup? Here’s why: #kosher #cola #passover #yellow #cap #jewish #holiday #family #shopping #tyh ♬ original sound – Moses & Zippora
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