Is Passover Coffee Kosher?

Passover is one of the three major Jewish festivals. 88% of Jews, whether they consider themselves traditional or secular, participate in the Passover seder. 48% eat only Kosher food during the week-long Passover holiday. The dietary rules for Passover are also very strict, and many coffees are now prohibited during Passover.

OU changes its Kosher coffee standard for Passover

OU has issued Kosher certification to 400,000 products and is considered the most recognized and most trusted Kosher mark in the world. Its original certification standard for coffee was that all unflavored, decaffeinated regular coffee could become a Passover-accepted Kosher product without supervision. But this has now changed, because some coffee companies add maltodextrin to the raw materials used in producing coffee. Maltodextrin is either fully chametz (fermented grains, prohibited during Passover) or kitniyos, which is prohibited for Ashkenazic Jews during Passover—even though the coffee bean itself is a Kosher food.

Jews carefully select coffee during Passover

Many Ashkenazi Jews (from Northern Europe, as opposed to Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal) do not drink coffee during Passover. All observant Jews must avoid eating chametz during Passover. Chametz is fermented grains, including leavened bread, cakes, noodles, millet, and many unfortunate choices—pizza and alcoholic beverages. Ashkenazic Jews also list some taboo foods—called kitniyot ('small things')—including corn, peas, peanuts, rice, lentils and legumes.

During Passover, Kosher consumers can still buy coffee, but they must check carefully to ensure the manufacturer has not added chametz ingredients.