Coffee Shop Kashrus
For me, collapsing in bed past midnight and hauling myself out of bed before daybreak is pretty much par for the course. Long time fans may remember the Hillel mass emails that I?d send out at a bright-eyed and bushytailed 4:30am. Needless to say, caffeine?s more or less replaced at least two of the four food groups in my diet. Bad for my formerly pearly whites but fabulous for Starbucks
Coffee is one of the few beverages (and by few I mean the only one besides water and certain alcohols) that, if you do it right, doesn?t require a hekhsher. Just follow the Star-K?s guidelines when shmoozing up your barista:
- All unflavored, roasted coffees (both regular and decaffeinated) may be purchased in a disposable cup. Sugar may be added. Milk (not creamer) may be added for those not maqpid (stringent) on (cholov Yisroel
- Creamers and flavors may be added separately (i.e., mixed in by hand and not added/stirred in via a machine) after the consumer verifies that the label on the original container bears reliable certification.
- Frapuccino, whipped toppings and other beverages are not recommended since they are made in carafes/pump pots that are not exclusively used for kosher beverages.
- Only packaged food items bearing reliable certification may be purchased.
- Starbucks bottled beverages bearking a “KD” are certified kosher, dairy, chalav stam (i.e. not cholov Yisroel) by Rabbi Zevulun Charlop, Dean of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (Yeshiva Univeristy?s semikha program, which has schooled more ex-boyfriends than I care to admit).
Bonus blogosphere tie-in: Rabbi Charlop?s right-hand man in micromanaging RIETS is Rabbi Chaim Bronstein, whose oldest son Avraham is one of the most well-reputed Jewish bloggers of our time. Of course, by “our time” I mean the past 18 months. I know Avraham, Avraham knows his father, his father knows Rabbi Charlop, Rabbi Charlop deals with Starbucks recipe and production departments in administering their bottled beverages’ hashgachah and the recipe and production departments must have a solid working relationship with Starbucks CEO and MOT Howard Schultz.
I smell a shiddukh! Oh no wait, it?s just spilled espresso.
If only they had “Coffee Bean & Tea” in NYC. Out in LA, all their stores are under certification, not just for their beverages, but baked goods as well. I was in coffee heaven while I was out there last year! In the meantime, I can only dream of a mint or mocha frappacino from Starbucks.
OK, I have a dumb question. What is the hechsher that indicates Rabbi Charlop certifies the food kosher? Or am I just supposed to go around with a list of “these things with a plain K are certified by R. Charlop” ??
My research for the original article came from the Star-K. However, they have since redesigned their site and the original link to their Starbucks advisory (which I included in the original article) is now dead.
Searching the Star-K’s website (http://www.star-k.org) with the queries “Starbucks” and “Charlop” will produce their most recent advisories on Starbucks.
I do not know if R’ Charlop has a trademarked symbol that he uses for kosher certification. The bottled Starbucks Fraps which he supervises are labled with a “KD” on the back. Note that the newly introduced Strawberry Frap is not kosher. In addition, I think that the Caramel Frap is not kosher, but don’t quote me.
At 6:01 pm on January 2nd, 2007, Rivka D wrote:
What is the hechsher that indicates Rabbi Charlop certifies the food kosher?
Rabbi Charlap certifies the products of Osem Israel Ltd., Israel. Please see my web-page at
http://www.hechshers.info/kashauth/31.htm.
The hechshers displayed there were obtained in
England. Different designs may be used by Osem for the U.S.A. market.
Kind regards,
Roger Harris.
There are two Rabbi Charlop’s- the Rabbi Zevulun Charlop in NY who certifies starbuck’s bottled frappachinos does not have a trademark symbol - he only uses a “K” - so you do have to know which products are under his hashgacha. (incidentally I don’t think that he ceritifes much besides bottled starbucks and the syrups used to make pepsi products). The Rabbi charlop from Israel (who cerities some Osen products - I think it is R. Moshe Charlop) - has a symbol that includes his name.
OC
OC — I was not aware that R’ Charlop certifies the Pepsi syrups. Do you know if he does the certification for Pepsi on his own, or as an employee of the Kof-K?
In either event, thanks for the tip!
Meredith
My understanding is that the syrups and the NY bottler were, at one time, both under R. Charlop (and bottles used to just have a “k” on the bottle tops). The NY bottler a few years ago made the change to have the Kof-K certify the bottling plant but kept R. Charlop as the certifier of the pepsi syrups (that are used throughout the country).
OC
OC — Thanks for clarifying.
http://www.Kosherstarbucks.com is the web site that i
use for kashrus info about Starbucks.
Does anyone know if Rabbi Charlop, who certifies the pepsi syrups, is also in charge of sierra mist?