Kosher label dropped from chocolate chips

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NEW YORK, May 24 (UPI) -- A change in Trader Joe's chocolate chips means the product is no longer dairy-free, prompting some U.S. Jews to lament the drop of the "pareve kosher" label.

The semi-sweet chocolate chips were popular with Jews across the country who keep kosher because a lack of dairy meant they could be enjoyed immediately following a meat meal. Mixing dairy and meat is not kosher, meaning a person must wait hours between eating the two.

Kosher certifiers pulled the "pareve" label from the chocolate chips May 18 because makers changed their method of cleaning equipment and put the semi-sweet chips on a production line that also handles milk chocolate, the New York Post reported Thursday.

"This is a huge hit for us," said Esti Berkowitz, 43, an Orthodox mom of three from Queens. "If you keep kosher and wanted a great dessert after a meat meal, you could serve these amazing chocolate-chip cookies and brownies. My kids loved them.

"There's no substitute for Trader Joe's. Why would they do something like this?"

Since the change in labeling, kosher-keeping Jews have rushed out to the grocery chain to stock up on the item, the Post reported.

"We've been sold out since Saturday. It's been a madhouse," said a Trader Joe's worker whose name was not reported.