DaasYochid, Now I see you are correct. He writes on the letter that the ones with stickers are under ????? ?????. HOWEVER, that does not mean there is any difference in the product. All that means is that he is in the building during production. Riccola does not change their ingredients or their sources when he is standing the plant. A company that size rarely changes their formulas ever.
I have spoken with European Rabonim who visited the plant. They had real issues with the sources of some of the flavorings. That is why there are “lists”. When these Rabonim go in, they create a list of non-problematic flavors.
yehudayona- cRc Chicago would never declare “not recommended” on any item which has any kosher certification whatsoever. Even a non-frum one. They would get sued for that. That is why on their Directory of Kosher Agencies that have a disclaimer “The fact that a particular agency does not appear on this list does not imply that the cRc has determined it to be substandard.” That is so they will not get sued for leaving someone off their list.
P.S. The certifying agency for Ricola is not on that list.