MILLER BREWING RECEIVES KOSHER CERTIFICATION

BARBARA MURRAY

MILWAUKEE -- Miller Brewing here became the second major U.S. brewery to obtain kosher certification.

Scott Bussen, Miller's public relations manager for major projects, told SN the company decided kosher certification would assure consumers about the product's ingredients. Certification was granted by OK Laboratories, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Miller Lite should have the OK symbol on all bottles and cans sold at retail by now, and other Miller brands will follow, Bussen said. The symbol is a K in a circle.

"Jews have been drinking beer for centuries," said Menachem Lubinsky, president of Integrated Marketing Communications, New York, which runs the annual Kosherfest trade show in November. He noted that beer is inherently kosher, except during Passover, because it is made with yeast.

Miller joins Coors Brewing Co., Golden, Colo., which in 1990 became the first U.S. brewer to obtain kosher certification, by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, New York, according to David Taylor, corporate communications manager for Coors. Coors expanded into New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the late 1980s, and the Northeast market remains strong for the company, Taylor said. All of Coors' domestic products carry the U in a circle, the Orthodox Union's symbol.

"Obviously, the Northeast is a huge and important market for Coor's, and it has a large segment that will look for and find kosher certification," Taylor said.

"At the time it was done we were expanding our brands nationally and internationally. It was a natural step; you want your products to be available to as large a consumer base as possible," Taylor added.

Although Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, is said to be working on getting kosher certification for its leading brand, Budweiser, a spokesman for the brewer could not provide more information.