(JTA) — Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chips will no longer be certified nondairy.
OK-Certification would no longer be able to certify the products as pareve because of a change in the supplier’s production procedure, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal reported this week.
In a statement, Trader Joe’s said the ingredients have not changed and the chips will continue to be made on equipment dedicated to nondairy chocolate.
The bagging process, however, has changed, with the supplier now using a dry cleaning procedure for a machine that also packages milk chocolate products.
These changes "triggered the need for an FDA regulated, dairy-related allergen statement, and this in turn brought about a change in the Kosher certification for our item — going from ‘Kosher Parve’ to ‘Kosher Dairy,’ ” the statement read.
As a result, OK Kosher said supervising rabbis can no longer guarantee that errant milk chocolate won’t be in the semi-sweet bags.
“It’s just really sad,” said Shana Fishman, a Beverlywood, Calif., mother of four who bought 20 bags of chocolate chips at Trader Joe’s in West Hollywood told the Jewish Journal.
A petition at change.org urges "Trader Joe’s: Keep the Chocolate Chips Pareve!"
A Facebook campaign to restore the pareve status was also launched.
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