Pepsi-Cola has lost its kashrut license from a fervently Orthodox rabbinic authority here, but the soft drink is still deemed kosher by two other Israeli rabbinic authorities.
The fervently Orthodox Eda Haredit kashrut authority last week decided to withdraw its kosher seal of approval because of the soft-drink company’s “immodest” advertising campaigns and its sponsorship of Saturday night rock concerts.
The Saturday night concerts, the rabbis said, led youth to violate the Sabbath by traveling to the concert areas before sundown.
Pepsi has decided to give up the Eda Haredit license without much of a fight, claiming that the rabbinic authority was making unreasonable demands.
The company said that losing the license would not hurt its business.
Officials of Tempo, the soft drink’s local distributor, met with Eda Haredit representatives in an effort to reverse the decision, but to no avail.
Tempo managing director Reuven Avital said this week that the meetings failed to make headway, despite the rabbinic authority’s desire to reinstate the license.
Avital blamed the impasse on the company not backing down on its advertising campaign.
“We have our principles and we can’t find an agreement, so we will lose their approval,” he said. “Our differences can’t be resolved.”
Avital predicted there would be no impact on sales here.
He took pains to stress that the soft drink has kashrut licenses from two other religious authorities.
One is in Holon and one in Netanya, where the company’s two plants are located.
He said people observing kashrut laws could still drink Pepsi because it is the only cola company that has opened its doors and disclosed its recipes to rabbinic authorities.
He also emphasized all three kashrut licenses remain on all the company’s other products.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
