Imaginary Ingredients

Kinder eggs, made of good quality chocolate with a toy in the middle, used to be popular in Israel. This year the kids received a chocolate-flavored knock-off called “TOY” in their shul candy bags. Made in Turkey, it’s imported by a company in Bnei Brak.

The ingredients in English read: Sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oil, cocoa powder, emulsifier, nature identical flavor (vanilin). Curious as to where that last phrase came from, I checked the Hebrew. The item, delightfully, is called “chomer taam va-re’ach dimui tivi,” which means “imitation natural flavor and smell.” Yum.

The label does contain reassuring information, including certification from the Chatam Sofer and the notice “None products contains pig fat.” If it’s meant for Moslems, wouldn’t it have an Arabic label? I have never seen that before.

Comments

  1. dimui tivi
    The beauty of this is that the Hebrew original is almost as funny as the English mistranslation… 🙂

  2. mominisrael says

    I think it’s funnier. . .no wonder the translator had a hard time with it.

  3. Kinder Eggs are no longer popular? I’ve seen them everywhere! I fear the day my kids discover them (because then they won’t leave me alone at the grocery store ever again)….on the other hand, I’d rather give them Kinder eggs than let them eat the trash that was handed out at shul yesterday.

  4. mominisrael says

    Kate, I was relying on my son for that info and it could very well be wrong. I don’t notice them anymore. I agree with you about the trash.

  5. I like the “imitation of natural flavor and smell”. Try to convince the kids that the stuff is terrible. At our shul they gave out blue artikim (ices) that I’m sure were filled with lots of “dimui tivi”. Still, they looked rather refreshing and I really wanted one, but my kids refused to go get me one.

  6. Oh, the Kinders are still everywhere, in every shape and size, with and without toys and I read somewhere that Israeli kids eat, like a billion of them a year or something. At least they’re good for you. 🙂

  7. I don’t think my Hebrew is good enough to appreciate this but I’ll trust that it’s funny. : )

    Benji

  8. When I read the labels on these things, I close my eyes and imagine I am living in The Little House on the Prairie, that I am making everything from scratch with clean fresh ingredients. I have one scene etched in my mind- the women standing in a field, separating the chaff from the wheat with those huge basket thingies- I don’t remember what you call it, I am sure there is a name- Then I feel so guilty for all the garbage we eat despite my efforts.

  9. Since ingredients are organized in the order of importance I wouldn’t give to kids anything whose major ingredient is sugar!

  10. As a professional translator I find the mistranslation amusing. What’s not funny is the intentional misrepresentation of an artificial ingredient as a semi-natural one.

    BTW, I would run this product by chatam sofer to check that it is really their hechsher. From what I’ve heard, many such candies are made in Gaza and similar places and the hechshers are obviously fake.

  11. My daughter brought home a jar of smoked paprika. I didn’t think twice about it until I read an article in the food section that said “if you have trouble finding smoked paprika, substitute regular paprika.” So I went and read the “ingredients” on the paprika jar: “Maltodextrin, natural hickory smoke flavor, hydrated silicon dioxide (free flow agent)”. Doesn’t say anything about peppers or paprika.

  12. TESYAA:

    “Doesn’t say anything about peppers or paprika.”

    read the label next time you buy onion rings. we visited the herr’s factory last month and learned that the onion rings are made from potatoes!

  13. Raanana Ramblings says

    Ugh. I think your post’s tag should say junk “food.” My kids are only too happy to eat such garbage whenever they get the chance. Ugh again.

  14. The notice of not containing pig fat comes from cases such as this:
    http://www.kipa.co.il/ask/show/29053

    Similarly, it always puzzles me to see other hechsherim that say “Kasher Le’Ochlei Gelatin”, which to me translates as “suitable to be eaten by those who eat nonkosher”…

  15. mominisrael says

    Rachel, I found this link that explains why there is room to be lenient regarding gelatin from non-kosher animals:
    http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AejcX6PEpcMKZGd0bm1ucGJfMzk2dm5jeHByZnY&hl=en

    I think we should be careful. If the rabbanut gives the hechsher it’s usually safe to assume their opinion has basis in halacha.
    Rav Cherlow recently said there is value in allowing a lower standard of kashrut for the Rabbanut certification, because then more people will keep kosher. He maintains that everyone should eat with the certification of the rabbinate, for social reasons.
    By the way the Milky issue came to the forefront when vegetarians learned that one of their favorite dairy products had an animal source.

  16. mominisrael says

    By the way, gelatin isn’t made from fat and does not always come from pigs, so I don’t think that’s the reason for the notice.