[Avodah] diet coke

[Ari Z. Zivotofsky]

the following from this weeks shabbat b'shabbato is very relevant:

   Shabbat B'Shabbato
   A pioneer weekly leaflet in Hebrew and in English, Founded in 1985,
   almost 100,000 copies are distributed weekly.
   Translated by: Moshe Goldberg
...
   A Mixture Containing "Kitniyot" on Pesach
   Rabbi Re'eim Hacohen
   Rosh Yeshiva and Chief Rabbi, Otniel

      Question: Can those people who do not eat "kitniyot" (legumes)
      on Pesach buy products which contain kitniyot in a mixture and
      eat them on the holiday?

      Answer: In the Talmud (Pesachim 30a), Rava prohibits a mixture
      containing even a tiny amount of chametz on Pesach, as opposed to
      other prohibitions during the year, where the prohibition is only
      for a majority of forbidden material (when the two foods are the
      same material) or one-sixtieth of the volume of the permitted food
      or more (if the foods are not the same material). The question
      now is what the ruling is for kitniyot, which is forbidden only
      because of a custom and not a full law. The Terumat Hadeshen (113)
      rules, "If a grain of any kind of kitniyot is found in a pot or in
      cooked food, it is wrong to be stringent and forbid the food, even
      for eating. This is because the decree prohibiting food if even a
      small amount of contamination is present applies only to grains
      of the five species." Darchei Moshe quotes the Terumat Hadeshen
      (453) and rejects the opinion of the Maharil, who prohibited eating
      such a mixture. In his comments on the Shulchan Aruch, the RAMA,
      who follows the Ashkenazi custom, writes: "It is clear that food
      is not to be prohibited after the fact, if something fell into
      it by accident." In Be'er Yitzchak, by Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan,
      and in the book Marcheshet by Rabbi Chanoch Henich Eigesh (Chapter
      3), a proof is brought from the Tosafot that appears in Chulin
      6a, that no decree was made for a mixture containing "demai"
      (grains bought from an unlearned man). It is not reasonable that
      a mixture containing kitniyot would be treated more stringently
      than a mixture containing demai.

      Chayei Adam (127a), Aruch Hashulchan (6), and the Mishna Berura
      (note 8) all agree that if the grain of kitniyot can be recognized
      in the cooked food it should be removed.

      Three questions may be asked about the opinion of the RAMA:

      (1) When two different species are present, must the kitniyot be
      less than one-sixtieth of the whole mixture, or is it enough that
      the kitniyot are less than half of the total?

      (2) Can kitniyot be mixed into the food intentionally?

      (3) Is one who observes the prohibition of kitniyot allowed to buy
      a product that was made for Sephardim, which contains a mixture
      of kitniyot?

      Each of the above questions can be answered in turn.

      (1) Shulchan Aruch Harav (5), Chok Yaacov (note 6), Chayei Adam, the
      Mishna Berura, and Be'er Yitzchak (11) all feel that if the kitniyot
      is less than half of the total of the mixture it may be ignored.

      (2) It would seem from the fact that the recent rabbis compare
      this to the case of demai that one should not make such a mixture
      intentionally, and this is also what is implied by the RAMA. This
      is against the opinion of the Perach.

      (3) At first glance, it would seem that if a mixture containing
      kitniyot was not part of the original decree forbidding kitniyot,
      no additional decree has been added since then. And even if it was
      decided from the start to prohibit adding enough other components
      to outweigh the kitniyot, a mixture would still be permitted. We
      should also note the opinion of the RAMA in Torat Chatat (quoted by
      the TAZ, Yoreh Dai'ah 108:4) - that the custom is to be lenient in
      buying food that was not directly cooked by a Gentile even if it was
      cooked in vessels whose use is forbidden, unless there is a dire
      need. This is because purchase of a cooked item is not considered
      as an a priori action. It is also worthwhile to note the opinion
      of the "others" quoted in the long version of Torat Habayit (4:3)
      - that in the case of a rabbinical decree that has no direct basis
      in the Torah one is permitted a priori to cancel a prohibition. In
      Be'er Yitzchak, this approach is given as a reason to be lenient
      in such cases.

      Another factor is the approach which allows buying many products
      that were made before Pesach. It is written in Be'er Yaacov with
      respect to kitniyot that were mixed together with other material
      before Pesach, "it can be prepared purposely if it is less
      than half the mixture, since before Pesach it has been given the
      status of a permitted food." Therefore, he writes, mixing kitniyot
      into food before Pesach is not considered purposely cancelling a
      prohibition, "especially since the whole matter is only a decree
      of the Geonim." Rabbi Yehuda Preis in a comprehensive article
      on kitniyot quotes these considerations as reasons to permit
      their use. In addition, a new book was recently published on the
      subject of kashrut by two prominent rabbis, Rabbi Elyashiv Kanohal
      and Rabbi Shmuel Ariel, by the name of "And you will eat and be
      satiated." They also rule that food products that have kitniyot
      in a mixture may be purchased as long as this is not the main
      ingredient and that it is not noticeable in the product.

      In my humble opinion, it seems to me that in this generation of
      ingathering of the exiles, the laws of kitniyot should be kept to
      their original scale, without piling on new stringencies. Those
      who give kashrut approval should instruct the factories to stop
      labeling all the products with kitniyot that are not the major
      ingredient as suitable "only for those who eat kitniyot." Rather,
      the ingredients of the food should be listed, so that every consumer
      will be able to decide if the mixture is forbidden to him or her
      according to his customs.