Yougurtland is it Kosher?

There are many people in Houston who would frequent Yogurtland locations with the understanding that many flavors are under KSA supervision. They would simply find out which flavors were supervised and only buy those labeled kosher. After contacting the KSA directly it was discovered that unless one could actually see the boxes of the shipment for that week, the KSA was not sure that in fact what you were eating was kosher.Currently the Yogurtland locations will not accommodate in providing proof of those shipments as they throw those boxes out. Talks with the HKA have yet to bear fruit and local Rabbi's may end up sending notices to this effect.

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."

Whiskey Alert: CRC brings forth concerns....

The CRC has put forth a letter from the AKO (associations of Kashrus Organizations) that they are concerned with the kashrus on certain brands of whiskey. This kashrus concern has nothing to do with the ingredients but rather the ownership of the companies. If the owner of the company is Jewish and did not sell his chametz, then the reasoning goes the whiskey becomes chametz she'aver alav pesach ( was owned by a Jew over the passover holiday) and is therefore forbidden. None of the other major Kashrus organizations have jumped on this bandwagon and it remains to be seen if any will. You can view a copy of this letter here.

Kosher Alert: No Frapaccinos are certified kosher at any Starbucks!

According to the Kosherstarbucks.com, Starbucks is rolling out a new Frappaccion base that is not certified kosher. Therefore they are reccomending not to drink any Frapaccino products sold at Starbucks. spread the word to any of your iced bean slurping friends....

Kosher Fish and Parasites? Can You Avoid Them

The latest concern about parasites in Kosher fish has made the papers and is getting some people riled up. Will there be a ban on lox or salmon or other fish? According to the OU and other Kashrus organizations the answer is no.The truth is even if one wanted to stay free and clear of parasites and  buy other types of fish it certainly won't be easy. Rabbi Moshe Karp of Modi’in Illit in Israel wants to ban salmon on account of the roundworm issues.

Kashrus News: Why worry about bugs in the fish? Fish Fraud!

By now many of you may have heard of the latest kashrus issue: bugs in the fish. Essentially there are parasites that have caused concern by some Rabanim as an issue to take seriously. Unfortunately many times the news in the world of kashrus is simply a way for someone to create a problem and make money by bringing a solution. When the issue of dolphins being found in tuna first became a kashrus concern, many were quite worried about the halachic implications. I'm told by a relative that he spoke to Rabbi Schwab who had many years of experience in the kashrus of the production of tuna . He stated that if one understood what was involved in tuna production this question of other fish in tuna cans would never have come up. This latest kashrus issue however, might be serious enough to warrant even the most skeptic to think twice. There are reports that fish imported from different countries such as China and Vietnam are mostly mislabeled: Fish fraud. This would mean that purchasing a talapia fillet could mean you might be eating say a catfish. The FDA is saying they don't have enough man power to search the fish and really do something about fish fraud.  This may result in a new industry for the kosher fish market: Fish ID through DNA.

New Job Openings for Orthodox Jewish Women

Orthodox Jewish Women generally have different considerations to take into account when seeking a career or employment. Many will try to find jobs that are family friendly, allowing them time to care of their children as well as help out with religious holiday preparations. For the longest time these jobs examples would be wig stylist, teachers and more recently speech therapy, OT, PT etc.. A new job market is opening up that could prove to be another opportunity for Jewish Orthodox women: Kosher Supervisor AKA Mashgiach. The article in the JFB reports that women may be better at the job than men are:Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld of the Star-K, who is organizing the fall training course, oversees several women supervisors and says they are often better than men because they are particular about details."They're very meticulous," he says. "They don't deviate -- either a thing is right or it's not. A guy, a lot of times he'll do a Talmudic analysis. I don't want a Talmudic analysis. A mashgiach's job is to see and to hear and to report."Most female supervisors work in the food services industry and tend to be found in cities outside New York and Los Angeles, where plenty of Orthodox men are available to fill the jobs. As you can see from a book published by Rabbi Zushe Blech on Kosher food production, the idea of a female mashgiach was pretty rare:

As time progresses and more classes are given we may see a change in this industry entirely.

Kashrus Alert: Half Moon K Bought by OU!

It was an official statement this past shabbos: The Orthodox Union has bought out the" half moon K" aka "Koaoa". At this point any products that are not kosher have already been dropped for Koaoa and are certified as kosher by OU standards. This is pretty big news for many since items like Campbells Soup (vegetarian vegetable only) and Mrs. T Perogies are up for grabs.

Rubashkin: Rabbi Nadel Speaks Out

The JTA blog brings to light statements made by Rabbi Nadel, the OU’s head of meat supervision.Rabbi Nadel is attempting to clear up a lot of the controversy concerning the mountains of bad press that Agriprocessor has been dealing with. The email dealt with the idea that mashgichim were unaware of anything that happened outside of the plant as that's the only place they inspect:

I go all over the plant when I visit, and the mashgichim that work for the OU also do, but only into areas where meat is processed. We do not visit the water treatment plant, nor the sheds where some materials are stored, nor houses where gentile workers live. We also do not act as OSHA inspectors, interviewing workers to hear their complaints. He goes on to say that we should be careful not believe everything we read:The OU is following the actions and findings of the federal authorities and will act accordingly; we take violations of law very seriously. But the OU certainly does not assume a person guilty because of allegations, nor is any Jew allowed to. We have certified Rubashkin for years, and I can assure you there are no kashrus problems at Postville more than occasional mistakes that happen anywhere, and when mistakes do happen, they are corrected.

The Latest Ban: Shabbos Ovens

I'm not sure how I missed all the talk but evidently the latest ban from some of the Gedolim in Eretz Yisroel is about the Shabbos Ovens. You can read the Kol Koreh here. I spent a good part of the yom tov listening to several drashas concerning the complexities of the whole issue regarding electricity and why it's assur etc.. It would seem on the surface that using electricity on yom tov is less problematic on yom tov then on shabbos but why it's assur is perhaps part of the issue. The interesting point this particular rav mentioned was the following: Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann is certainly a posek in his own right. People certainly rely on him regarding laws of a bibical nature i.e. kashrus. In a case that may be rabbinical in nature certainly there is room to rely on his p'sak ( and if you consider the problem a bibical in nature it's no different then kashrus perhaps). He felt that perhaps bans such as these facilitated a "Fear Mongering" as it were. In other words, to make it known you don't agree with a p'sak is one thing. Don't you have the right to rely on your own rav? There is a story he told regarding Rav Yaakov Kanmietzky who when visiting Miami for some down time was greeted with many Shielos and his response was: you have rabbanim here, ask them. Evidently Rabbi Moshe Feinstein felt something along the same lines regarding the building of an eruv in Manhattan. When he was asked about the building of the eruv on the West Side his response was he would not allow it. However he said if there were other poskim who would consider putting an eruv up and he would not overrule them since they are poskim but would disagree with their p'sak. He did not try to ban anything. It is certainly an interesting point of view and brings a new perspective to the whole issue.

Kosher Cinnabon: Now Open in NJ

It's finally here folks. The first Kosher Cinnabon on the east coast has open up, no not in Brooklyn but Hackensack , NJ! In case your are scrambling to clog your arteries with this 1100 calories and 56 grams of fat treat, the address is 450 Hackensack Avenue and the phone number is 201-487-7600. Kashrus is provided by the Kof K and the entire store is kosher. Bon A petite!

Brooklyn Dunkin Donuts on "J":Not Kosher!

Well it looks like the Dunkin Donuts on Ave J which had kosher supervision for the longest time, no longer has any as it is now selling non-kosher items. In a letter sent out by Rabbi Kenneth Auman, he requested that his congregants not even purchase coffee there. The reason behind the decision is not to give people the impression that it is kosher as it may have been recently. Pass it on to your Brooklyn friends.

Kashrut Alert: Tropicana Smells Fishy?

Recently shopping at Brach's I noticed a little sign next to a Tropicana carton. It was labeled "OK-Fish". The OK has issued a kashrus alert that the Tropicana with Omega-3 contains fish oil and should therefore not be used in conjunction with meat. If you like the idea of fish in your orange juice and are worried that you can't have it with your steak, do not worry.According to the information off the OU's website this whole issue is not problematic:There is also a question if gravy of one fell into the pot of the other and there is less than 1/60 of one of them, whether one can employ the halachic rule of bitul b’shishim (nullification of the minority substance). The gemara (Chulin 111b) seems to imply that fish may be cooked in a fleishig pot, while some argue (see Taz, Yoreh Deah 95:3). It would seem that one can be lenient in these and other related questions. This is because several major poskim point out that the danger Chazal referred to is no longer prevalent (see Magen Avraham, Orach Chayim 173:1; Pitchei Tshuva, Yoreh Deah 116:3, in the name of Chatam Sofer; Aruch Hashulchan, Yoreh Deah 116:10).Since the Omega-3 in all likelihood is bitul b'shishim some may wonder why the OK brought it up in the first place. Some people are of the opinion that this whole kashrus alert may have have been a publicity stunt by the OK. Others say because there is a danger mentioned in the Talmud regarding eating fish and meat together, some try to strictly adhere to it since the reason for the danger is not clear.

Brooklyn Kashrus: A Fantastic New Developement

A fantastic new development has been made in Brooklyn in regards to Kashrus. The KIC ( Kashrus information center) is an independent party that checks into the standards of kosher supervision at kosher stores throughout the Brooklyn area. It then reports it's findings to the Rabbis of the community. They do not give supervision and therefore have no agenda, you can read more about this organization here. There was an advertisement in the Hamodia that if a store had it's supervision pulled ( like the Junior cheesecake situation (except it's not a store)) another hashgocha would have to contact the KIC before issuing it's supervision. For example if the OK Labs withdrew it's hashgocha from a pizza shop, another company such as Star-K could not give supervision there without meeting with the KIC to discuss things first. This way there would be higher kashrus standards across the board. The lisiting of Hasgchos that agreed to this program included: star-k, kehila kashus, ARK, Tartikor Rav, OK, OU, Rabbi Gornish. I might be missing some but the chof k was absent perhaps because they don't really give all that many hashgochas in the area. It will be interesting to see how it effects kashrus standards.

Bagel Island: Yet Another Store W/ Kashrut Issues!

It seems that the Kashrus world in NY is making a lot of headlines. From Le Marais to Gourmet Glatt and now for the most recent addition: Bagel Island of Lawrence, NY. This Five Towns establishment was caught red handed according to a report by the Jewish Star with non-cholov yisroel cream cheese. The trouble started when they ran out of cream cheese and one of the partners who was non-observant (David Perez) decided to purchase non-cholov yisroel since they could not get the regular shipment in. No actual traife was involved here, however the honesty ( and reliability) of the owner is now brought into question. As a slap on the wrist the Vaad of the 5 Towns had shut the store down for a day. David Perez is no longer allowed on the premises of the store and frum partner Joe Elbaz is considered trustworthy as per the vaad's analysis. Hopefully Joe's business will not be hurt because his partner did something stupid.

Le Maraislll: The Lawsuit continues...

The Le Marais debacle continues with a $10 million lawsuit pending a state judge issued what is essentially a gag order. The mashgiach, Mr. Bitton was ordered to stop posting anything about Le Marais or its employees - including the restaurant's head chef, Mark Hennessey, whom Bitton called "a Jew hater." This is certain to be a big chillul hashem and hopefully we can get some clarity on the issues at hand. The NYPost article sounds scary as it reveals:

One of Bitton's allegations is that dairy margarine "was placed in a pot with other food" in the restaurant's kitchen several months ago. Kosher law forbids mixing dairy and meat.

But the OU said it was an honest error, and the food was not served.

Bitton also complains that Hennessey ordered non-kosher fish to be delivered to the restaurant during the Sabbath, when Le Marais was closed. But the fish company said the delivery was a mistake.And, Bitton says, strawberries arrived in the kitchen without having been checked by Bitton or the eatery's other mashgiach. "When I later checked those strawberries I found several worms in them," Bitton said.To make matters worse, says Bitton, Hennessey sometimes lit the restaurant's ovens. Under kosher law, that's a job for the restaurant's mashgiachs.

Le Marais ll: Lawsuit Pending....

As per our previous post on the latest Kashrus fight between the OU and La Le Marais's former mashgiach. Le Marais is fighting back with a defamation lawsuit to the tune of $10 million. His kind words about the bistro has cost it a 30 percent decrease in business. This is going to be another major Kashrus battle and it will be interesting to see if it will effect any policy change by the OU .


(HT Ezzie, Life-of-Rubin)

Le Marais Restaraunt: Kashrus Issues Debated..

If you thought that Gourmet Glatt was a Kashrus debacle, there is a new Kashrus problem that is sure to make an even bigger stir!I refer to the famous Steak House in NYC: Le Marais. The former Mashgiach, Yizchak Bitton is alleging that the chef is a Jew-Hater and that he had smuggled in non-kosher food etc. He even started his own blog and website to further his cause. The OU which gives the Kosher supervision for this establishment, states that they had looked into every accusation proposed by Mr. Bitton and found that NONE of the allegations were credible.

Mr. Bitton developed amazing conspiratorial theories involving crime organizations to explain why people denied his allegations, and attributed dark and evil motives to sincere and honest individuals within the OU. Mr. Bitton was dogmatic in his interpretations of situations and did not acknowledge the legitimacy of other opinions. We explained to Mr. Bitton that he was entitled to his opinion, but we do not have to agree. He insisted that his viewpoint is fact and not an opinion.

In protest of our decision to not have the chef fired, Mr. Bitton voluntarily resigned from his position at the restaurant. Since then, Mr. Bitton and others have circulated e-mail allegations about this matter. Many of the statements are patently false, such as the accusation that the chef physically assaulted Mr. Bitton and intentionally placed insects in the food. In a private conversation with an OU staff member, Mr. Bitton admitted that this was not true. Another allegation is that the OU chose to defend the chef for financial considerations. This accusation is absurd. Had the OU insisted that the chef be dismissed, it would have had no financial impact on the OU, as Le Marais would readily have complied. Indeed, the easiest course for the OU would have been to ask the restaurant to dismiss this chef, and the whole matter would have been put to rest. The OU did not take this course of action because we felt that the kashrus of the restaurant was properly served and to dismiss a chef without just cause was unethical and immoral.

Rabbi Blumenkrantz: Boruch Dayan Emes

In a major blow to Jews around the world I regret to inform you that Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz has passed today. He was having surgery and did not make it. Rabbi Blumenkrantz is most well known for his sefer on the Laws of Pesach (left) which is famous world wide. Rabbi Blumenkrantz is the Rabbi of a fairly large sized kehillah in Far Rockaway he also had some controversial views on make up and he was against using styrofoam cups for kashrus reasons . This posaik will be sorely missed by many and it remains to be seen who will take over his Pesach work.

Kosher Food: Emprie doing away with Plumbas..

The JP gives us an inside look at the latest developments in the kosher meat industry. Due to the recent tragic events involving mislabeling and other terrible kashrus debacles, Empire is introducing the latest in Kashrus innovation. These include: product lines where products will be bagged in branded bags and sealed onsite at Empire, offering consumers the security of brand authenticity and ensuring its kashrus status. These Factory-Sealed packages also have a tamper proof, holographic emblem providing a second layer of kashrus security.