Tobias Geffen
Tobias Geffen · Historical & Religious Figures
Atlanta rabbi entrusted with the secret Coca-Cola formula in 1935; he got the company to change two ingredients and certified the drink kosher — including for Passover.
1 August 1870, Kovno, Russian Empire (now Kaunas, Lithuania) — 10 February 1970, Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Tobias Geffen is recognized among Jewish contributors to Historical & Religious Figures — Atlanta rabbi entrusted with the secret Coca-Cola formula in 1935; he got the company to change two ingredients and certified the drink kosher — including for Passover.
Ordained in Kovno and in America from 1903, Rabbi Tobias Geffen led Atlanta's Congregation Shearith Israel for sixty years — he opened the city's first Hebrew school in his own home. Living beside Coca-Cola's headquarters, he was asked by rabbis nationwide whether the drink was kosher. The company handed him its formula, the most closely guarded trade secret in business, on his promise never to reveal it — and he never did.
He found glycerin from non-kosher beef tallow, and persuaded the company to switch to a vegetable source; for Passover, a grain-derived sweetener was replaced with cane and beet sugar. His 1935 responsum made Coca-Cola kosher year-round: 'It is now possible for the most stringent Halachist to enjoy Coca Cola throughout the year and on Passover.' Every yellow-capped Passover Coke on a supermarket shelf descends from that ruling.
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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobias_Geffen
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Atlanta rabbi entrusted with the secret Coca-Cola formula in 1935; he got the company to change two ingredients and certified the drink kosher — including for Passover.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobias_Geffen
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