|
| |
Duncan Hines: Please Don't Go Dairy!
A line of popular Orthodox Union (OU) certified cake mixes by Duncan Hines
will soon switch to dairy ingredients, Kosher Today learned. The decision will
affect the large number of kosher consumers that have been using the cake mixes
because they are pareve and can be eaten with meat as well as by many of the 56
million Americans who are lactose intolerant. A similar decision by Stella D'oro
of Nabisco several years ago was greeted by a large outcry from consumers, which
caused the company to reverse the decision.
Duncan Hines was owned by Procter and Gamble for many years, but when it
experienced difficulty, it was sold to Pinnacle Foods, based in Cherry Hill, NJ,
which also acquired such well-known kosher brands as Lender's Bagels. Industry
sources say that Duncan Hines decided to add the dairy to improve the quality of
the product. The decision by Duncan Hines comes at a time when there is growing
demand for pareve consumers to bake their own pareve cakes for use on Shabbat
and holidays. Some industry sources were privately hoping that the company would
not go through with the change, but if it does, a "D" will be added to the OU
indicating that dairy ingredients are being used.
This would remove from the market the last major brand of cake mixes that Jews
who keep kosher can use with a meat meal. Oy! But you can help!!!!!!
(Seriously!). When Nabisco made a similar announcement regarding its Stella
D'oro cookies (a favorite Shabbat dinner dessert in many homes), they were
flooded with requests not to change and it WORKED- they switched the cookies
back to parve.
So please, even if you do not keep kosher (this is important for those of us who
are lactose intolerant too!), please visit Pinnacle Foods to let them know you
appreciate Duncan Hines being dairy free and oppose any change to make its OU
certified baked good dairy.
You can file a concern at
http://www.duncanhines.com in the "about us"
section under the "contact us" option. Just fill out the form and click submit.
And pass this news on to your friends.
|
