Thursday, October 25, 2007

Starbucks: How Kosher Is It?

The 5 towns has a recent Starbucks addition: A Starbucks drive through on Rockaway Turnpike. Many people assume that since it's coffee they can order any kind because after all, isn't all coffee kosher? In an article in the 5 Towns Jewish Times, Rabbi Rabbi Yair Hoffman dispels many of those myths. He argues that flavored coffees must have a hecsher (supervision):Because these flavors are added artificially to the bean after it is roasted. These flavors—hazelnut, vanilla bean, or chocolate—are not pure pieces of the same, but come from flavorings that need supervision.Now it should be noted should you opt for an added flavor to your regular coffee, many of those flavors are OU certified (one should check for the label before asking for one). He also gets into a discussion about the fact that many of the items used to assist in making these beverages are all cleaned together in a dishwasher that may very well have tarfus (non-kosher). It's an interesting read.

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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

any idiot knows that none of the flavored coffees, super mocha silly drinks or syrups at any starbuck can even be considered kosher.
what myth? where did it come from? people are just stupid, especially young frum jews who buy these mega huge crazy drinks without even considering that they are - ghasp - not kosher!

AS said...

or syrups at any starbuck can even be considered kosher.

Anon,

Actually that's not true.
I have checked those syrups and as my post says most are kosher but you have to check the labels. You may not want to jump to conclusions until you know the facts.

Anonymous said...

i know thae facts, thank you.
none of that chazzerai is reliable at all.

AS said...

Anon,

Let me ask you a question and try to give a straight answer if you can.
My statement is as follows the syrups that they add to the coffee has an ou certification. Are you saying that's a lie or that it has an ou that's fake or the OU itself is not reliable? Just curious...

Anonymous said...

and the brand of syrup in a specific store might have an ou, but what about the pumps on the bottles that are always changing from bottle to bottle? what about the way they are or arent wached in between? there are so many pratim, and its mind boggling how people especially young peopel just assumed its all good.

AS said...

interesting point

Chaim said...

JB, I see you have the same troll infestation I do. Hey "Anon" why you always so glum? You need a hug? :-)

AS said...

::hugging::

Anonymous said...

anon. Its really easy to say that something is trief. Hilchos kashrus has many complex rules. First even the non certified syrups are probably still kosher. Further even if they are not, it doesnt automatically make the pumps trief.

Anonymous said...

that was just one simple example. what about lard based soaps to clean the vessels? what about treif nut crumb toppings, treif caramel, utensils used for the same items?

its like the kids at the ice cream stand in the summer mall, where they say they wash the scoop in between the kosher and the non kosher flavors...except the "washing" is just dipping the scoop into a cloudy barrel of water with all the flavor remnants mixed up.

in the simplest forms, it is safest to stay away from everything in starbucks other than plain black no frills coffee.

Anonymous said...

There are concepts of bittul and nosen taam that you are not considering. It is not proper to assur everything just because you are not sure. You need to ask you own posek about those issues. just remember that the kashrus industry is a business and sometimes make comments to promote their own agendas.

Anonymous said...

when in dount it is better to assume the better option of not putting it in your mouth than to hope for some absract bittul heter. its not like hteres a shortage of kosher coffee.

Sharon Vaknin said...

Check out kosherstarbucks.com for all the info! I just discovered it =D

Anonymous said...

Wow! I just checked out kosherstarbucks.com, there's tons of infor there, i emailed them and it seems like they only rely on the OU type agencies. The guy who emailed me back definitely knew alot about Starbucks.