cRc alerts: Flavor Shakes & Anheuser-Busch Beer Products

From the Chicago Rabbinical Council We would like to welcome a new restaurant to the cRc family: Taami Restaurant, 2931 West Touhy, Chicago, Illinois 60645. Effective immediately, all products manufactured by Flavor Shakes, Inc, are no longer under the certification of the cRc, even when bearing the cRc on the label. This includes products under the “7 in 1 Cookie Kit” label and “Chef Select” Bread Dipping Sauce. Anheuser-Busch Beer Products Mott’s, a division of Dr Pepper/Snapple Group, sells a beverage called Clamato which contains clam powder, and Anheuser-Busch recently introduced a beverage called Chelada which is a mixture of Budweiser beer and Clamato. In recent months, Kashrus Magazine wrote that since Chelada is tunnel pasteurized on the same equipment as other beer products, the public should avoid all Budweiser products until the process is “inspected by a competent kashrus expert”. [While investigating the issue of Chelada, we also became aware of a related issue stemming from another Anheuser-Busch product called “Bud Light Lime”]. The cRc, which certifies many items produced in the same plant as the Clamato, investigated this concern via visiting the plants where Clamato and Chelada are produced, reviewing formulas, extensive discussions with the companies, and independent research. The following are our conclusions: § Anheuser-Busch beers sold in bottles are free and clear of any concerns. § Dr Pepper has already made changes to the production of the Clamato used in Chelada, without changing its basic recipe, so that Anheuser-Busch beers sold in cans will also be acceptable. § The kosher status of Anheuser-Busch beers are not affected by the Bud Light Lime beverage bottled on shared equipment. All flavored beers require a reliable hashgacha. At the present time, both the Lime and the Chelada beers are not certified kosher. Please note that the status of beer packed in kegs and sold “on tap” has the same status as beer sold in bottles. The rationale for these conclusions are beyond the scope of this statement, and will be presented to kashrus professionals at their AKO Conference to be held on November 13, 2008. For a more detailed report, please visit our website at http://www.crcweb.org (PDF)

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