Trader Joe’s non-parve chocolates
Change in bagging process now has semi-sweet chips certified dairy
(JTA) — Kosher-keeping chocolate lovers were unhappy to learn this week that Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chips would no longer be certified nondairy.
OK-Certification would no longer be able to certify the products as parve because of a change in the supplier’s production procedure, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal reported.
In a statement, Trader Joe’s said that the ingredients have not changed and the chips will continue to 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.
