I spoke with the people at Ko Kosher Service of Philadelphia today regarding
their labeling of the Jelly Bellys as Ko when they had dairy ingredients on the
listing.  They appeared to be aware of this problem and how it did not
conform with our assumption that unless the D is used or an item is
obviously dairy one could assume the product pareve.  They stated that while
this standard was used by OU and perhaps most other kosher labelers that
as long as the product was kosher they did not feel they were directly
violating their labeling standards.  They said that in the bag of 39 jelly beans
2 of the flavors did contain dairy but the others didn't (key lime and
cheesecake for what its worth).  However, they did say they would be talking
with Jelly Belly and that over the next few months they would label items that
contain dairy with a D... and also that they wanted to use the parve label
more instead of just the plain Ko.

This is certainly not the greatest of answers for us.  It did tell me that
reliability of kosher labeling can certainly vary from one hecksher to the
other.  It would appear that OU is very diligent in their labeling of dairy and
I'm sure many others are as well.  But once again we can't skip reading the
full ingredients. ( I forgot to mention to them that in Kathryn's case the
ingredient label was covered up by the price tag !).

If anyone else wants to talk to Ko for a greater understanding of their
standing on this issue (can't say I fully understand it myself), their number is
800-626-1100 .

Denise