The Origins of Word Flavor: A Cautionary Tale
Civic is a word that brings back memories of feline friends, but its connection to cats is not as simple as it seems. The origin of the term "civic" is unclear, but it's believed to have come from the Latin word "civis," meaning "citizen." However, in some areas, civic has become synonymous with a certain type of flavor profile, which raises questions about the authenticity and safety of these products.
One such product that comes under the category of "flavor" is castorium. This term refers to a mixture of castor beans and other substances, often used as an ingredient in food and beverages. The origin of this term is shrouded in mystery, but it's believed to have come from the bottom half of some sort of South American beaver. While this may sound far-fetched, castorium has been a popular ingredient in various products, including ginger ale.
When we see words like "flavor" on packaging, it's essential to approach them with a healthy dose of skepticism. Flavor profiles can vary greatly depending on the manufacturer and their intentions. In some cases, these terms may be nothing more than marketing gimmicks designed to entice consumers into trying new products. As consumers, it's crucial to stay informed and do our research before making a purchase.
A visit to 7-Eleven, particularly in predominantly Jewish areas, has revealed a surprising phenomenon. The store lists "kosher flavors" on their machines, but these labels may not always be accurate or up-to-date. In some cases, the list may have been copied from an external source without proper verification. As consumers, it's essential to take this information with a grain of salt and rely on more reliable sources for kosher certification.
One way to stay informed is to check the website or app of the relevant certifying agency, such as the CRC (Cohen Certification Corporation). By doing so, we can ensure that the products we purchase meet certain standards of quality and authenticity. For example, a product may be certified kosher but contain non-Kosher ingredients in its salad or other components.
The Importance of Reading Labels
Rabbi Fishbring's comment about always reading the label has struck a chord. In an age where instant gratification is often prioritized over careful consideration, it's easy to overlook the importance of proper labeling and certification. However, as consumers, we have a responsibility to make informed decisions about the products we purchase.
When buying Slurpees or other beverages, it's essential to examine the label carefully. A simple glance may not reveal everything, but taking the time to read the ingredients list can provide valuable insights into what's actually in your drink. Some manufacturers may use misleading labels or outdated information, so it's crucial to verify the accuracy of these claims.
Education is Key
Ultimately, becoming an educated consumer is essential in today's marketplace. By staying informed and doing our research, we can avoid falling prey to gimmicky marketing tactics or inaccurate labeling. This is particularly important for children who may be more susceptible to manipulation by misleading labels or advertising.
As Mr. Sims so aptly put it, "The best consumer becomes educated." By taking the initiative to learn about kosher certification and product labels, we can make informed decisions that align with our values and priorities.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthank you welcome back to let's talk ashers we are joined by Rabbi Shalom fishbane kasha's administrator of the Chicago rabbinical Council and executive director of acco The Association of cautious organizations Rabbi Fishman I'd like to discuss today a very prevalent topic something that comes up all the time for young and old and that is Slurpees May one purchase a Slurpee in a Wawa a 7-Eleven a quick check they all have these similar Slurpee type machines slushy type slushy type of drinks and if yes what type of drinks what should people know great question um this by you know when you're a kid this is this is it right um that in oreos so Slurpees is it's actually owned the name Slurpees is owned by seven so let's start with 7-Eleven um you know the way it works is in all these types of machines is you have the dispensers that's what you see it has a hose and it goes to the back behind a door that has these boxes that's the flavor base so the answer is going is that like a syrup syrup the flavor base if that box is kosher the Slurpee will be kosher that's the simple answer okay so the very very best way to buy a plate buy a Slurpee or slushie if you have a if you're in a city like we have in Chicago we have in Chicago one store one 7-Eleven that we actually certified I will tell you we don't charge them anything this is a service to the community but they allow us to go into the back anytime they get a new flavor they check with us so we certify the slurpee machine on this particular place on Tui Avenue and um everything's great we had another 7-Eleven that just wasn't following the rules again they don't pay so they don't remember to uh and they were bringing in Slurpee flavors or whatnot so we we pulled the free hushka that's the best you're in a city that has a scoffer go there what about if you're not which is the vast vast majority the best thing to do then is go over to the person and say look I keep kosher is it okay if I look at the flavor box to make sure it's kosher many times it will you want to buy uh you know purple sugary hyper what I'm sure that's not the real name uh then you could uh if you'll see a hectare that's a reliable hexer on the box you're good to go now will the will the Katra symbol be visible on these usually not very good okay so what we do on our website and I'm happy to email to anybody that needs it but you can get it on on both the our app our website we can email it to you call it in even when you're saying our app you're talking about CRC Chicago rabbinical Council CRC kosher or CRC kosher.org um we have a list of the brand and the flavor to State as long as it's coming from you know Fanta strawberry bomb then even if it doesn't have a texture on the box you can drink it but that's an important point just because Fanta it may be good for some flavors it doesn't mean all the flavors so there's the brand and then there's the flavor people should check both right and there are a couple of flavors that are not kosher and some flavors that are dairy milk holds down so we need to know that also now why is it enough to do that and what about the third scenario where you walk in and they're not letting you behind you can't get behind there can you rely on the word Coca-Cola right you know you want to take cocoa so surprisingly yes and why is that it's very interesting you know do we audit you know who else audits 7-Eleven Coca-Cola audits they don't want you the consumer to buy a Coca-Cola Slurpee and it tastes like a knockoff an off-brand that hurts their their brand so they have their own they come unannounced and make sure that if it says Coca-Cola and using our logo that it's like that in the back so in the conscious vernacular there's a mirsis somewhat somewhat you know meaning that there's a fear that if they deviate there's another thing in incarcerously all the time we look at other outside of you know of Misha famously use that for called stom that's different ahologically different it's called anansahadeh which is a different halacha but it's you know Loosely Loosely related to the concept where if you have it so we do have that those would be the three scenarios with the hexer go verify yourself that it's coming from a box which is good for Wawas and all these places and then that's the best that's the most practical and then in certain scenarios for surface 711 you could be so make that if it says a national brand and you know that brand is kosher like you're always going to be safe with the Coca-Cola flavor you know the plain old otherwise um you know otherwise it could be a problem now that's with 7-Eleven because they have that what about the Wawas the other places every time I go to Lakewood I haven't been okay I gotta go visit they I have friends that keep texting me please go to this and this place and my my kids need to go there go and and I I go check it out check it on I'm even being Lakewood this afternoon so if I remember believe that or I'll walk in looking all authoritative and say I'm coming from the kosher or whatever can you let me in the back and but the truth is it can change it could change right and there are there are you know horror stories where I know one city they it was a really hot summer and they ran out and they did get a knock off oh really and it did happen it did happen I believe it was in Detroit is this the the the other show you know I don't think so but uh that's the story now now as far you mentioned Theory and you mentioned that there are non-kosher flavors the fact that they're in the same machine is that is that a problem it's a great question because it's a a Shale of covers right so um it I delve deep into the icy pool of understanding how Slurpees are made and how long it takes to make it at what temperature as well as how long it actually stays in the barrel on the barrel and how big it is and how often it gets replaced fascinating stuff the short answer is that it doesn't stay long enough to have um covers but think about this let's say they're changing over from a kosher to a non-kosher flavor do you think they clean it out no way you know why the kids love a mix exactly they love some yellow Goo Goo uh whatever going into their purple uh who knows what right so they don't clean it out what about that so that's that's really a great question so maybe if you're getting something that you know is kosher and it comes out a little a little colory uh from a different flavor maybe you could stay away from that you could talk in halacha that it would be bottle and the amount of actual traif uh is for sure going to be both on all of that uh so you have you have what to work with when we sit in the basement and talk it through but it's actually a Live question one other thing that's fascinating about celebrities that I noticed is if you know how you take a water and sugar and at what temperatures you get the right consistency right you'll know that it's hard to do that when it's diets because when it's diets really yeah because sugar and water and flavor freeze at one temperature if you um if you go to a different temperature if you if you don't take you take the sugar out and substitute it for some sort of you know Sugar Sugar the whole different flavor and the machines aren't set to you know to complete that so it won't dissolve it doesn't come out either as a rock or as water so it what does it have to do with kosher so I remember looking into one of the famous diet I think it was a Diet Pepsi when they had a Diet Pepsi Slurpee so they substituted the closest thing they can find the sugar which would it would be dietetic but it also freeze and that was something called tagatos tagatos is a byproduct of whey which is a byproduct of cheese so very fascinating now maybe that the amount of tacitosis bottled but as you know in halaka there's something called the overaha mind it's you can't say something the word bottle means it's nullified as if it's not there but if you have something that even though it's teeny amount but it actually does something how can you say logically that's about them great question to the side of the taglitos does it it makes it the way that form if it's if it's there you know this is something that comes up all the time so that's why and again this is something that would be relevant to a Slurpee but not to the regular drink correct which which is where people maybe got confused very good very good so you might think oh Diet Pepsi die Pepsi right but you know you have to add in something their reads in order for it to freeze anything fascinating stuff but this concept of Dover our mind it comes up all over all over in all types of food um and um you know certainly when you take a flavor which is a very very small amount you drop it into a soda bottle and the rest of the bottle is uh you know water and carbon and sugar all innocuous all easy from a kosher standpoint and this is a teeny teeny amount there's no way you can say that okay and I'll tell you a story on soda okay in Chicago we call it pop so soda pop I remember the first time I went into a very very large soda Factory and they were making a very popular cherry soda now I can't tell you the name for you know legal reasons of what it was but I look at the formula and there were three things in this soda on all the stores in the supermarket trust me well-known brand uh Cherry type thing here are the three non-kosher in the world and and on the label it said water carbon sugar and the very last thing was Flavor because it's the smallest amount but here's what was in the flavor a long list of things it takes 26 things to make one flavor here were the three non-kosher ready sherry wine stomyenum obviously civet civet what is that what is Civic right Civic comes from a cat a cat up in some area I don't know who the first person that saw a cat and said I'm putting that in my soda okay and the last thing if you really want to gross uh kids out was castorium what is that that comes from the the uh the bottom half of some sort of beaver South American beaver crazy stuff is sewed up there's no way you would know that very popular brand and of course we couldn't certify it but who knows that everyone was buying you know the ginger ale of that brand which everybody was or this and oh so there's a cherry let me grab it off the thing oh my gosh we need to be con we need to be um educated we need to understand this so that's what I was I just wanted to get to that point about the word flavor when you see a word flavor if you're buying tea okay and it has this it has that and it has the word flavor stay away it needs a good texture any word flavor could have all sorts of funny things going on there and it won't be bottle based on this constant of double alignment so it's important to be an educated consumer that's the bottom one I do want to point that and I'm wondering if you would agree I've been to 7-Elevens especially in predominantly Jewish areas where they're smart enough to know to have a list on the side of the machine from the CRC from the Starke from whoever it might be with the kosher flavors but as we've spoken about many times things are always changing how old is that list great where did that list really come from I mean is it the exact list from the certifying agency was it copied over you you the truth is that you really can't rely on that list posted by the store it's not unless it's certified by an agency then the agency post assignments but if the store itself posted that sign telling you which flavors are Kosher you know buyer beware do your own research go on to the CRC website or app find out what flavors that's the best so you know obviously when kids go in and they don't have Baruch Hashem access to smartphones and apps and websites it's a little harder but you're 100 right so the adult taking them should see if it's updated but great point about outdated kosher letters right can I just say another thing sure always read the culture letter always read the ghostly you'd be shocked I went into a city where um you know only three restaurants there and you know I'm a cautious so I read the kosher letters and it says there on the thing this place is sort of very close this place is certified as kosher except for anything to do with the salads we take no responsibility for salads because uh you know tillamo is too difficult the whole plate it was a vegan place are we gonna have a carrot you know it was great no but the point is you know he felt that that's the survival Master needs to do what he needed to do for his community at least give him something right and the fact that he was on the kosher letter but I can tell you that most uh guests from out of town are not reading kosher letters they're not looking at at expiration dates on on Slurpee letters and whatnot so always at least start an educated kosher consumer like Mr Sims once said is the oh he didn't say the kosher part is the best consumer become educated look at the kosher letters um you know sometimes you may be the only guy that week that asked them are you kosher can I see your kosher letter you'd be shocked sometimes what it says on there you know call it's not called Israel it's not This Not That become educated but you bring up a good point about children also very often especially because the Slurpee is a relatively cheap item for a dollar or two so the kids go in themselves and they buy it and they don't know perhaps those who are watching this will take the next time they go with their children go with the paper show the kids what the story is you know show them this is Coco had a boy teach the children if we teach them when they're young then as they get older they'll know hold on I can't take anything for granted you know always be perfect yeah it's far-reaching perfect understanding of just and that will spread to other areas and collections I love that and at the end of the day that's really the goal of this cautious awareness project right it's about education like you said an educated consumer it's about helping people educating educating them and Rabbi fishbring we're indebted to you because you're helping us do this so thank you for your commentary on Slurpee and we look forward to speaking to you again thank you thank youthank you welcome back to let's talk ashers we are joined by Rabbi Shalom fishbane kasha's administrator of the Chicago rabbinical Council and executive director of acco The Association of cautious organizations Rabbi Fishman I'd like to discuss today a very prevalent topic something that comes up all the time for young and old and that is Slurpees May one purchase a Slurpee in a Wawa a 7-Eleven a quick check they all have these similar Slurpee type machines slushy type slushy type of drinks and if yes what type of drinks what should people know great question um this by you know when you're a kid this is this is it right um that in oreos so Slurpees is it's actually owned the name Slurpees is owned by seven so let's start with 7-Eleven um you know the way it works is in all these types of machines is you have the dispensers that's what you see it has a hose and it goes to the back behind a door that has these boxes that's the flavor base so the answer is going is that like a syrup syrup the flavor base if that box is kosher the Slurpee will be kosher that's the simple answer okay so the very very best way to buy a plate buy a Slurpee or slushie if you have a if you're in a city like we have in Chicago we have in Chicago one store one 7-Eleven that we actually certified I will tell you we don't charge them anything this is a service to the community but they allow us to go into the back anytime they get a new flavor they check with us so we certify the slurpee machine on this particular place on Tui Avenue and um everything's great we had another 7-Eleven that just wasn't following the rules again they don't pay so they don't remember to uh and they were bringing in Slurpee flavors or whatnot so we we pulled the free hushka that's the best you're in a city that has a scoffer go there what about if you're not which is the vast vast majority the best thing to do then is go over to the person and say look I keep kosher is it okay if I look at the flavor box to make sure it's kosher many times it will you want to buy uh you know purple sugary hyper what I'm sure that's not the real name uh then you could uh if you'll see a hectare that's a reliable hexer on the box you're good to go now will the will the Katra symbol be visible on these usually not very good okay so what we do on our website and I'm happy to email to anybody that needs it but you can get it on on both the our app our website we can email it to you call it in even when you're saying our app you're talking about CRC Chicago rabbinical Council CRC kosher or CRC kosher.org um we have a list of the brand and the flavor to State as long as it's coming from you know Fanta strawberry bomb then even if it doesn't have a texture on the box you can drink it but that's an important point just because Fanta it may be good for some flavors it doesn't mean all the flavors so there's the brand and then there's the flavor people should check both right and there are a couple of flavors that are not kosher and some flavors that are dairy milk holds down so we need to know that also now why is it enough to do that and what about the third scenario where you walk in and they're not letting you behind you can't get behind there can you rely on the word Coca-Cola right you know you want to take cocoa so surprisingly yes and why is that it's very interesting you know do we audit you know who else audits 7-Eleven Coca-Cola audits they don't want you the consumer to buy a Coca-Cola Slurpee and it tastes like a knockoff an off-brand that hurts their their brand so they have their own they come unannounced and make sure that if it says Coca-Cola and using our logo that it's like that in the back so in the conscious vernacular there's a mirsis somewhat somewhat you know meaning that there's a fear that if they deviate there's another thing in incarcerously all the time we look at other outside of you know of Misha famously use that for called stom that's different ahologically different it's called anansahadeh which is a different halacha but it's you know Loosely Loosely related to the concept where if you have it so we do have that those would be the three scenarios with the hexer go verify yourself that it's coming from a box which is good for Wawas and all these places and then that's the best that's the most practical and then in certain scenarios for surface 711 you could be so make that if it says a national brand and you know that brand is kosher like you're always going to be safe with the Coca-Cola flavor you know the plain old otherwise um you know otherwise it could be a problem now that's with 7-Eleven because they have that what about the Wawas the other places every time I go to Lakewood I haven't been okay I gotta go visit they I have friends that keep texting me please go to this and this place and my my kids need to go there go and and I I go check it out check it on I'm even being Lakewood this afternoon so if I remember believe that or I'll walk in looking all authoritative and say I'm coming from the kosher or whatever can you let me in the back and but the truth is it can change it could change right and there are there are you know horror stories where I know one city they it was a really hot summer and they ran out and they did get a knock off oh really and it did happen it did happen I believe it was in Detroit is this the the the other show you know I don't think so but uh that's the story now now as far you mentioned Theory and you mentioned that there are non-kosher flavors the fact that they're in the same machine is that is that a problem it's a great question because it's a a Shale of covers right so um it I delve deep into the icy pool of understanding how Slurpees are made and how long it takes to make it at what temperature as well as how long it actually stays in the barrel on the barrel and how big it is and how often it gets replaced fascinating stuff the short answer is that it doesn't stay long enough to have um covers but think about this let's say they're changing over from a kosher to a non-kosher flavor do you think they clean it out no way you know why the kids love a mix exactly they love some yellow Goo Goo uh whatever going into their purple uh who knows what right so they don't clean it out what about that so that's that's really a great question so maybe if you're getting something that you know is kosher and it comes out a little a little colory uh from a different flavor maybe you could stay away from that you could talk in halacha that it would be bottle and the amount of actual traif uh is for sure going to be both on all of that uh so you have you have what to work with when we sit in the basement and talk it through but it's actually a Live question one other thing that's fascinating about celebrities that I noticed is if you know how you take a water and sugar and at what temperatures you get the right consistency right you'll know that it's hard to do that when it's diets because when it's diets really yeah because sugar and water and flavor freeze at one temperature if you um if you go to a different temperature if you if you don't take you take the sugar out and substitute it for some sort of you know Sugar Sugar the whole different flavor and the machines aren't set to you know to complete that so it won't dissolve it doesn't come out either as a rock or as water so it what does it have to do with kosher so I remember looking into one of the famous diet I think it was a Diet Pepsi when they had a Diet Pepsi Slurpee so they substituted the closest thing they can find the sugar which would it would be dietetic but it also freeze and that was something called tagatos tagatos is a byproduct of whey which is a byproduct of cheese so very fascinating now maybe that the amount of tacitosis bottled but as you know in halaka there's something called the overaha mind it's you can't say something the word bottle means it's nullified as if it's not there but if you have something that even though it's teeny amount but it actually does something how can you say logically that's about them great question to the side of the taglitos does it it makes it the way that form if it's if it's there you know this is something that comes up all the time so that's why and again this is something that would be relevant to a Slurpee but not to the regular drink correct which which is where people maybe got confused very good very good so you might think oh Diet Pepsi die Pepsi right but you know you have to add in something their reads in order for it to freeze anything fascinating stuff but this concept of Dover our mind it comes up all over all over in all types of food um and um you know certainly when you take a flavor which is a very very small amount you drop it into a soda bottle and the rest of the bottle is uh you know water and carbon and sugar all innocuous all easy from a kosher standpoint and this is a teeny teeny amount there's no way you can say that okay and I'll tell you a story on soda okay in Chicago we call it pop so soda pop I remember the first time I went into a very very large soda Factory and they were making a very popular cherry soda now I can't tell you the name for you know legal reasons of what it was but I look at the formula and there were three things in this soda on all the stores in the supermarket trust me well-known brand uh Cherry type thing here are the three non-kosher in the world and and on the label it said water carbon sugar and the very last thing was Flavor because it's the smallest amount but here's what was in the flavor a long list of things it takes 26 things to make one flavor here were the three non-kosher ready sherry wine stomyenum obviously civet civet what is that what is Civic right Civic comes from a cat a cat up in some area I don't know who the first person that saw a cat and said I'm putting that in my soda okay and the last thing if you really want to gross uh kids out was castorium what is that that comes from the the uh the bottom half of some sort of beaver South American beaver crazy stuff is sewed up there's no way you would know that very popular brand and of course we couldn't certify it but who knows that everyone was buying you know the ginger ale of that brand which everybody was or this and oh so there's a cherry let me grab it off the thing oh my gosh we need to be con we need to be um educated we need to understand this so that's what I was I just wanted to get to that point about the word flavor when you see a word flavor if you're buying tea okay and it has this it has that and it has the word flavor stay away it needs a good texture any word flavor could have all sorts of funny things going on there and it won't be bottle based on this constant of double alignment so it's important to be an educated consumer that's the bottom one I do want to point that and I'm wondering if you would agree I've been to 7-Elevens especially in predominantly Jewish areas where they're smart enough to know to have a list on the side of the machine from the CRC from the Starke from whoever it might be with the kosher flavors but as we've spoken about many times things are always changing how old is that list great where did that list really come from I mean is it the exact list from the certifying agency was it copied over you you the truth is that you really can't rely on that list posted by the store it's not unless it's certified by an agency then the agency post assignments but if the store itself posted that sign telling you which flavors are Kosher you know buyer beware do your own research go on to the CRC website or app find out what flavors that's the best so you know obviously when kids go in and they don't have Baruch Hashem access to smartphones and apps and websites it's a little harder but you're 100 right so the adult taking them should see if it's updated but great point about outdated kosher letters right can I just say another thing sure always read the culture letter always read the ghostly you'd be shocked I went into a city where um you know only three restaurants there and you know I'm a cautious so I read the kosher letters and it says there on the thing this place is sort of very close this place is certified as kosher except for anything to do with the salads we take no responsibility for salads because uh you know tillamo is too difficult the whole plate it was a vegan place are we gonna have a carrot you know it was great no but the point is you know he felt that that's the survival Master needs to do what he needed to do for his community at least give him something right and the fact that he was on the kosher letter but I can tell you that most uh guests from out of town are not reading kosher letters they're not looking at at expiration dates on on Slurpee letters and whatnot so always at least start an educated kosher consumer like Mr Sims once said is the oh he didn't say the kosher part is the best consumer become educated look at the kosher letters um you know sometimes you may be the only guy that week that asked them are you kosher can I see your kosher letter you'd be shocked sometimes what it says on there you know call it's not called Israel it's not This Not That become educated but you bring up a good point about children also very often especially because the Slurpee is a relatively cheap item for a dollar or two so the kids go in themselves and they buy it and they don't know perhaps those who are watching this will take the next time they go with their children go with the paper show the kids what the story is you know show them this is Coco had a boy teach the children if we teach them when they're young then as they get older they'll know hold on I can't take anything for granted you know always be perfect yeah it's far-reaching perfect understanding of just and that will spread to other areas and collections I love that and at the end of the day that's really the goal of this cautious awareness project right it's about education like you said an educated consumer it's about helping people educating educating them and Rabbi fishbring we're indebted to you because you're helping us do this so thank you for your commentary on Slurpee and we look forward to speaking to you again thank you thank you\n"