The item states that some coca cola is being sold in Israel with Arabic writing on the label and no kashrut certification symbol at all. These bottles are being sold at a cheaper price.. Upon investigation it has been found that this item is manufactured in the village of Kfar Bitunia, near Jerusalem with no kashrut supervision.
The Rabbanut therefore warns the public that they should be aware and not buy this product, both due to the issue itself (i.e. it might not be kosher), and for educational reasons so people should not get used to buying food with no kashrut supervision. And either way, a place with supervision should not have these bottles present...
The first reason to not consume this item is important - the item has no kashrut supervision and perhaps there might be a problematic ingredient. if there is, it should be pointed out what that is. Coca Cola is using just about identical recipes around the world - they want their product to retain a certain level of uniformity and the same taste everywhere, with perhaps slight changes to accommodate local markets. It should not be difficult for the Rabbanut, or Rav Landau who authorizes the Israeli Coca Cola, to find out what, if anything, is different about the PA Coca Cola.
the second reason to not consume this, for educational reasons, is a crock. That is their way of keeping a stranglehold on the people even when it is not necessary. Foods that do not require a hechsher, and I am not saying this applies to Coca Cola, do not need a hechsher for educational reasons. I would say just the opposite - for educational reasons it would be better to not put a hechsher on so people can learn that certain foods are perfectly kosher and do not need external certification. This would apply to plain coffee (not flavored), regular beers (not flavored) and many other food items. I do not know if Coca Cola falls into theis category or not, but saying people should be trained to not buy food without a hechsher is false, unless they are saying this is an item that requires one. In this case of Coca Cola, they failed to make that case.
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