Change to Trader Joe's Chocolate Chips Sparks Outcry from Local Kosher Consumers

is baking some changes into the way they produce their chocolate chips -- changes that have sparked local and national outcry from Kosher consumers.

Until recently, the chips were designated by the Brooklyn-based OK Kosher Certification as "pareve," meaning they have not been cooked or mixed with any meat or dairy foods. Under Kosher law, meat and dairy must not be cooked or eaten together. 

But earlier this month, the chocolate chip manufacturer made some changes to the packaging of the Trader Joe's chips and the OK Kosher Cert. has removed the "pareve" status, which poses a problem for consumers keeping kosher, and those with dairy allergies.

As a result, some local residents are taking steps to voice their concern and bring back the non-dairy, pareve chips. 

"Most mainstream brands [of chocolate chips] are dairy and most of the private brand non-dairy chips are not very good," says Newton resident Andrew Greene. "Trader Joe's was the only mainstream brand that was high quality and non-dairy."

Greene, who found out about the chocolate chip change on Twitter, recently started an online petition to keep the chocolate chips pareve. Since the petition went live last Wednesday, more than 4,500 concerned consumers have signed in favor of bringing back the non-dairy chips.

A number of supporters have also commented on Greene's petition page, both from the angle of a kosher consumer as well as those with dairy allergies.

"There were a lot of emails going around [about the change] and it was important for people to have a centralized place to register how upset they were so Trader Joe's could see that and know how people are affected by this," Greene said.

According to an article on JewishJournal.com, the loss of pareve status comes from a change in the way the chocolate chip supplier cleans the machines on which the semi-sweet chips are packaged.

The machinery also bags milk chocolate chips, the article says, and with the new cleaning regimen, the FDA decided to place a dairy allergy warning on the Trader Joe's chips. This triggered a reassessment from OK Kosher, whose officials said the cleaning and packaging process no longer met the requirements for pareve certification.

"It's not just a religious issue," Greene said. "It's a food safety issue and an allergy issue."

In the past, companies like Duncan Hines and Stella D'Oro made changes in their products that removed pareve status, but rescinded those changes, in part because of reactions from the Orthodox Jewish community. 

“Finding chocolate chips that are certified as kosher and pareve, and of decent quality, is difficult. Most of them are made by smaller companies that, because they are smaller companies with a relatively captive, niche audience, the quality is somewhat lacking," says Brookline resident Shanna Giora-Gorfajn (also a ). “The alternative is buying inferior products or going somewhere like Whole Foods for other niche products, such as vegan.”

Over the last few days, shoppers at local Trader Joe's may have spotted customers filling up carts with the bags of chips, as Kosher and dairy-free consumers are stocking up on the bags of chips that are still pareve. According to the Jewish Journal article, some Trader Joe's locations are reporting people buying as many as 170 bags at a time.

In Brookline, the Coolidge Corner Trader Joe's is still stocking the pareve chocolate chips and recently included them in a large display at the front of the store.

“The Brookline Trader Joe’s has been incredibly helpful and responsive,” Giora-Gorfajn says. 

According to Giora-Gorfajn, Trader Joe’s staff told her they ordered 50 cases for Brookline, recognizing that the community has a demand for them, and that management had passed the concern to their corporate offices. 

Giora-Gorfajn says she bought a case with some of her neighbors and has about three dozen bags on hand. 

"I am optimistic Trader Joe's will be responsive to this," Giora-Gorfajn says.

Greene says he has sent a letter to Trader Joe's letting them know about the online petition, but has not yet heard back from the California-based grocery chain. In addition, OK Kosher Cert. said in a statement that it is working with the chocolate chip manufacturer to find possible solutions.

"I understand, and most people understand, that Trader Joe's is a business and they need to make money and if this change ends up saving them more money than they lose in loss of sales, then there it is," Greene says. "But I think the important thing is to make sure they understand what the trade-off is...if they measure the economic impact, they may discover it is worth it to go back to the old packaging."

Trader Joe's did not return calls or emails requesting comment.