The real thing

For health-and environment-conscious people who love Coca-Cola, now's a good time to stock up. During the seven days of Passover, the Coca-Cola Company reverts to its original formula, making the soda without high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which it began substituting for sugar in 1985.

This is done as a goodwill gesture to the Jewish community, which is forbidden by religious law to consume grains (including corn, from which HFCS is made) during the eight days of observance. This year, Passover runs from Saturday April 19 through Sunday April 27.

Many in-the-know Coke lovers who are concerned about the prevalence of highly processed corn sweeteners in the American diet for ecological or health reasons, or who simply miss the taste of Coke before the switch (you'll be able to tell the difference, believe me), take this opportunity to stock the pantry with HFCS-free Coke. It's available in most areas with a sizable Jewish population, and is easily distinguished from ordinary Coke by the bright yellow caps on its bottles (regular Coke bottles have red caps), and the Hebrew and English lettering on the cap, indicating that it is "Kosher for Passover."

Reasons for choosing this limited edition cola vary. For instance, the reason Coke substituted in HFCS in the first place was that ultra high-yield corn created record low corn prices. This made the corn-based sweetener much, much cheaper than the cane sugar or fructose (not the same thing as HFCS) that it had used since the 1880s. So much cheaper, in fact, that it slashed the cost of producing the beverage, and allowed for the introduction of super-sized takeout drinks, Big Gulps, free refills, and lots of other avenues to greater consumption. But high corn production is fueled by large chemical inputs like petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides, which cause extensive ecological damage.

It's not that sugar production is a great boon to the environment. It has land and water use problems too. But the increase in HFCS food and beverage consumption has led to increased ecological stresses, dependence on petroleum inputs, and, some say, the obesity epidemic in America today. Now that prices for corn are edging up due to demand for biofuels and a worldwide food pinch, we may see a downsizing of sweetened food product portions, Coca-Cola included. Maybe smaller bottles of Coke aren't a bad thing, either. But in the meantime, Coca-Cola sweetened the old fashioned way with cane sugar is on shelves until the end of this week.

LifeWire provides original and syndicated content to web publishers. Jay Weinstein, a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America, is a New York based food writer, editor, and cookbook author. His food articles and recipes have been featured in The New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Newsday, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, and numerous other publications. His latest book, The Ethical Gourmet, focuses on ecologically sustainable fine foods. He's currently working on a book about sustainable use of water.