One of my friends is going to be so happy with me – she loves Dr. Pepper and usually has to live without it during Passover…but not this year!
Most drinks like Coke or Dr. Pepper, etc. are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), but the Dr. Pepper that’s made at the bottler in Dublin, Texas is made with cane sugar. That’s important during Passover, because corn and its derivatives are foods that we’re supposed to avoid during the holiday.
Some people who are really big on Coca-Cola (even if they don’t celebrate Passover) will go out and buy Coke in the 2-liter bottle with the yellow screw tops because that signifies that the bottler has switched over to the original cane sugar recipe. The cap will also have an OU-P stamp on it.
There’s a really good story that NPR did about the difference between Coke made with HFCS and cane sugar. If you have a Mexican grocery store in your area, they might carry Mexican Coke, which is *always* made with cane sugar.
I don’t think any bottler switches over from HFCS to cane sugar to make Dr. Pepper for Passover, but since I found the Dublin Dr. Pepper bottler and had them ship me some to give to Leslie, she will be so surprised and happy!