Thursday, July 14, 2011

Kashrus Issues in the UK: Pigs and Kosher Meat

The JC. Com has an interesting article concerning vans that were delivering meat to a kosher butcher shop known as Super Glatt. Pictures taken showed a pigs carcase sitting right next to kosher meat that was under strict Kosher supervision by a London Kashrus authority. A Rabbi who did not want to be named said halachcily there is no real issue as the meat is cleaned and salted before consumption.

David Rose, executive director of the London Board of Shechita, the largest shechitah board in the UK, said: "This does not happen with our meat. Our abattoirs do not put pig carcasses on the lorries with kosher carcasses."We inspect our meat when the lorries are delivered. I have spoken to a senior inspector and he has never seen anything like this with our lorries.

"I can't speak for other shechitah boards."A statement from the Union of Hebrew Orthodox Congregations, which oversees Kedassia, said that transporting kosher with non-kosher meat saved costs."The Union rabbinate is aware of the delivery of both raw kosher and non-kosher carcases in the same vehicle," it said."This raises no halachic problems."The kosher meat bears two clearly identifiable kashrus seals [metal tags], and is checked by Kedassia's full time mashgichim [supervisors] upon arrival at the butchers' shops."The abattoir processes both kosher and non-kosher animals at different times but delivery in the same vehicle saves on considerable transport costs."The 'aesthetics' of the photos plays no part in the halachic permissibility of the delivery of such meat in the same vehicle."

Friday, July 08, 2011

Best Kosher Snacks

I'm always surprised by the latest kosher snacks that are available nationwide. Some of the more interesting ones were when Mrs. Freshley's dropped it's triangle-K certification and went with the OU. They are now one of the only ones to offer a OU on a cup cake that can be bought at many Wal-Marts. Considering that a nice portion of orthodox Jews don't rely on the triangle-k for bakery good products many more goodies became available. It seemed that after this, many of those items became private labeled for  wal-mart and a whole new line of products came out. My favorite: peanut butter wafers! Another source of great snacks is Target. They have some fabulous snacks that are both tasty and innovative.Such as their 7-Layer Dip Fiesta Chip which are full of many flavors .Other great goodies are the real fruit strips, butter crunch cashews or organic choloclate chip cookies.Another place you can find some interesting snack is Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's has arguably the best pareve chocolate chips for any baking recipe or simply a great snack on shabbos after a meat meal. Where have you found interesting kosher snacks?

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

Reasons to Buy a Smart Phone?


Life Hacker makes a good case for buying a smart phone if you have been on the fence. at the very least he explains how to take advantage of possible savings if you already own one.



10. Find Fee-Free ATMs


9. Always Have Your Coupons


8.Use an App to Compare Prices When Shopping


7. Keep Digital Copies of Discount Cards


6. Actually Use Your Phone to Save Money


5. Save Money on Groceries


4. Get Cheap Gas


3. Make Calls Using VOIP


2. Don't Pay for Text Messages


1. Tether at Little to No Cost


To see how all this makes sense click here for the full picture.