What’s With the Yellow Caps on Coca-Cola Bottles in Michigan?

Whether you call your carbonated drinks soda, pop or Coke, there's no doubt which drink stands above the rest. Admittedly, I'm a bit biased; I drink one or two Coca-Colas per day. But I've never had one with a yellow cap on the bottle.

It's quite possible you haven't seen these, especially if you aren't in the most heavily populated areas of the state. But if you have noticed them, your first thought must have been, "What's up with that?" Because other than the yellow cap, everything else looks exactly the same.

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Why Might Some Coke Bottles in Michigan Have Yellow Caps?

While the rest of the bottle looks completely normal, the yellow caps aren't a printing error or a sign that the local Coca-Cola bottling factory ran out of the traditional red caps. The yellow caps, surprisingly enough, do serve a purpose.

A Coca-Cola bottle with a yellow cap indicates that that particular bottle of Coke is made with sucrose, typically from cane sugar, instead of the usual high-fructose corn syrup. This lets Jewish members of the community know that they can drink this bottle of Coke without breaking Passover tradition.

According to Business Insider, Coca-Cola is certified kosher year-round. However, the standard recipe of today's Coke isn't fit for Passover consumption due to the high-fructose corn syrup. Passover began this year on April 12 and will continue until April 20.

While Michigan isn't as heavily populated with Jewish folk as, say, New Jersey or New York, the Mitten State is home to more than 120,000 Jews, according to the Jewish Virtual Library. Most of the Jewish population is located in metropolitan Detroit, primarily in the Oakland County suburbs. As such, you're more likely to encounter yellow-capped Coca-Cola at convenience stores in that area of the state than any other.