TastyBite Ready-Made Indian Cuisine
With the recent opening of a new Trader Joe’s near my office in Burlington, I spent my lunch “hour” punctiliously scanning their aisles for interesting kosher products. The most promising line of products that I returned to work with was TastyBite’s ready-made Indian foods. They’re fully prepared and vacuum-sealed in a foil pouch, making them shelf-stable without refrigeration for fifteen months. The diner simply tears open a pouch, microwaves the contents for a minute or so, and enjoys.
Price
After my LaBriute fiasco, I had low hopes for these heat-and-serve products. At TJ’s reasonable price of $2.49 - $2.99 per package, however, I had no barriers to try them.
Kashrut
All of TastyBite’s Indian products are produced in India, so I wasn’t surprised to find emblazened on the box the “Kosher Inspection Service” heksher, run by Indian Rabbi Avraham Binyamin (hence the Aleph-Bet included within the symbol). According to TastyBite’s website, he’s recognized by the Chief Rabbinical Council of Israel and certifies meals for El Al.
Truth In Packaging
TastyBite’s first triumph was the close similarity between the product photo and the food itself. Granted, most Indian food has an advantage in that regard: when visiting the Burlington Mall’s food court with my coworkers, I regularly refer to Gourmet India’s dishes as “the red slop,” “the green slop,” and “the yellow slop.” My coworkers seem to enjoy such homogenous-looking cuisine, so I didn’t bat an eyelash when TastyBite looked the same.
Preparation
TastyBite offers two product types: individual dishes (i.e. Jaipur Vegetables or Madras Lentils) and complete meals (i.e. Peas Paneer with Basmati Rice). Both can be warmed either in the microwave, or submerged in a pot of boiling water. The complete meals, though, come with a convenient plastic box with lid, into which rice and entree may be poured before microwaving.
Quality
You’d expect that a fifteen-month shelf-stable product would be made so with unpronounceable preservatives and flavor enhancers. Not so in these products. Take their “Bengal Lentils” (Chana Masala), for example. Its ingrendients are simply water, lentils, tomatoes, onions, sunflower oil, chickpeas, garlic, salt, ginger, chiles, coriander, turmeric, herbs and spices.
Taste
Each of the TastyBite products I’ve tried so far are indeed “tasty bites.” Is it gourmet food? No. Is it a good lunch alternative to my usual tuna sandwich? Absolutely. The Jaipur Vegetables contains TastyBite’s greatest variety of vegtables, plus chunks of paneer, cashews, and raisins. The cashews weren’t crisp, and the vegetables all had a consistent taste and texture not unlike Campbell’s Vegetarian Vegetable soup. But its sauce was pleasantly spicy and creamy. The Madras Lentils were a lot like soupy refried beans, both in terms of flavor and texture, but actually good. The Peas Paneer & Basmati Rice meal offered a tasty combination of peas and paneer in a nice sauce, but the basmati rice, despite its perfect texture, had an “off” flavor and odor something like an old candlepin bowling alley.
Overall
These products aren’t going to win awards for pure visual allure, but each product is flavorful, convenient, wholesome, and inexpensive. TastyBite’s Indian dishes have provided an exotic change to my other monotonous lunch routine. Plus, you can keep a stash of these in your file cabinet for days when you forget your lunchbox. Just steer clear of the disappointing basmati rice.
We’ve enjoyed Tasty Bites for the last 2 years thanks to Wild Oats and Whole Foods. I think your assessment is spot on - not gourmet food, but a welcome break from everyday lunches. They make pretty good side dishes, too.
The boxed dinners are my staple for nights when I’m working unexpectedly late! You forgot to mention that they also come with a spoon, making them complete!
I’ve found that the basmati rice varies a lot in quality. Only once (out of maybe 30 dinners?) has it been truly awful. Usually it’s passable, and the curries are spicy enough that I wouldn’t want to eat them without rice.
Also, that hecksher is not universally accepted. It’s fine by me and my rabbi, but he said El Al no longer accepts it, and some others have followed suit. No idea why.
Which hechser is on this product?
The hekshers are pictured here: http://www.tastybite.com/company_healthvalues.htm#kosher
In the barren wasteland of Kashrut that is Philadelphia, we are fortunate enough to have access to these great little boxes at FreshGrocer (the UPenn-area grocery store). They are a nice and easy way to mix-up your ready-made repertoire. One tip - do not overcook/overheat those dishes that include paneer cheese - it doesn’t hold up well to that.
These were helpful on a recent business trip, and tasty too.
Thought you might enjoy my heating method that used the coffee pot in the hotel room since I was too lazy to find a microwave at the hotel.
I put the rice packet in the top portion (where the coffee filter goes) and the meal pouch into the carafe. I ran the water through the machine twice and the dripping water heated the rice then filled the carafe (which stayed warm on the hot plate). After letting it sit for 5-10 minutes, I poured out the water and emptied the pouches for a hot, tasty meal. One note - fill the carafe after inserting the food pouch, otherwise too much water comes out.
I work at the Trader Joe’s in Burlington, and this thread came up in a search I was doing to see if anyone had any online comments/complaints about the new store. You described yourself as “punctiliously scanning their aisles for interesting kosher products”. I just wanted to let you know (if you didn’t already) that we have sheets you can pick up at the front of the store that list all the items we carry which are certified kosher, broken down by category of food. We have similar lists for many other dietary considerations (low sodium, gluten-free, etc). Please feel free to ask a crew member next time you visit if you need any help finding one of these lists. I hope this makes your shopping easier, and thanks for your business.
Tom– Thanks for the note! I believe the list of which you speak is also available on your website.
Trader Joe’s has rebranded the Tasty-Bite line. I have found another company that markets similar items with the same Kosher supervision — Kohinoor. They have an entire line of Indian dishes. My favorite is Achari Mushroom which I mix with some cooked barley. I purchase these in an Indian Market in Manhattan where they sell for $1.49 each and if you buy two you get one free. I keep a Dal Tadka and Chana Masala in my desk draw when in case I forget my lunch!
I just picked up from Shoprite a Mashed Vegetable Curry and a Palak Paneer from Kitchens of India. It has the same certification as the one that you discussed above. Does anyone know if this is a reliable orthodox hechsher?
Miriam: your question can open a hostile can of worms. That said, the Kosher Inspection Service of India is widely known: they are the certifying agency for meals provided to ElAl amongst others.
Harlan
See above - El-Al no longer accepts it.
Does anyone know WHY El Al no longer accepts the hechsher?
i’ve tried a similar thing from maharajahs choice, it was good. at the moment i have the madras lentils, jaipur vegetables and bombay potatoes from TastyBite, sitting in my room, saved for emergency meals. but i just want to eat them :). i might just cook these for my housemates when we start sharing again :).
I have one question, what would you serve these with? just some rice?
Cheers,
j
I’ve checked with several people who are in a position to know the reliability of this particular hechsher, and I have been advised by all of them to steer clear of it. None of them would tell me precisely what was wrong with it, but they were as clear as they could be that it was not to be relied upon.
I appreciate that they must be careful both of lashon hara and slander, and there’s no real need for anybody to know the precise details of what they found wrong with the hechsher.
Milhouse, I must respectfully disagree. Precisely because alleging that a given hechsher is unreliable can amount to lashon hara as well as destroying peoples’ livelihood, such allegations must be made only in response to specific kashrus issues. The educated kosher consumer should understand why a given supervision is problematic, e.g., it relies upon opinions that do not meet community standards (gelatin, carmine, gevinat akum restrictions, etc.), or it has insufficient staff or monitoring abilities. Otherwise, we are left with a potential for harmful misinformation. A blanket statement that a hechsher is unreliable is in no way less damaging than an announcement based on credible facts. I am not prepared to rely upon unsubstantiated rumors or pronouncements but maybe that is just a function of my critical nature.
Milhouse misses the mark. UltraConn has heard that this is a very conservative hasgacha and is respected amongst even the most radical in kashrus interpretation. UltraCon thinks that Milhouse has an axe to grind. UltraCon thinks Milhouse should be disreguarded.
Howard thinks people who refer to themselves in third person should be disregarded.
UltraCon thinks Howard hasnt addressed the issue at hand. UltraCon doesnt think that Tasty Bite is the freshest indian food around, (that would be made by UltraCon himself), but in a pinch its good to have on the shelf.
Let us look at what Milhouse is really doing: for unspoken reasons he wants to impeach the validity of a particular Hasgacha; but in an effort to not develop a situation of slander/defamation Milhouse makes blind allegatons referable to unnamed authorities.
If there is a serious concern about these Indian products, then come out with specificity. If you cant, then keep it to yourself. (and I would encourage the moderator to delete this line of discussion.)
Wow, lots of experts at remote psychoanalysis, who know what I’m “really doing”, and what sort of axes I’m grinding. I have no personal stake in the matter at all; I’d love to use these products, but I’ve checked with people who are in a position to know, and they have all warned me to STAY AWAY from this hechsher.
It’s not that these people don’t know anything about the hechsher and are advising caution due to lack of information; they do know it and advise caution based on the specific information that they have.
They are not required to disclose this information to anyone else; people can either trust them or not. There is no general duty on people to disclose any and all information that they know, especially when it’s not necessary. If they did tell what they knew, the same people who demand the information would simply disbelieve or disregard it.
Of course nobody here has a clue who I am or whether I’m telling the truth. But if you go ahead and use the product you should be aware of this, and consider that against this negative information, however unsubstantiated, what positive information do you have? What basis do you have for regarding the hechsher as reliable? None at all. But you now have some basis for considering it unreliable.
As for UltraCon, s/he is lying; whatever the hechsher’s inherent merits it is simply not true that it’s “respected amongst even the most radical in kashrus interpretation”.
Without specifics how is anyone to know that some random person on a web page writing about his random rabbis is to be trusted on a matter of kashrus or of anything else? Sure there is no duty to disclose anything but then there shouldn’t be an expectation that others should take somebody’s word for it either.
Milhouse I didn’t mean anything against you in particular; I am just a little frustrated at getting the run-around on this hechsher thing. There are others that come to mind where someone will tell you “it’s not recommended” but refuse to tell you WHY. It could be something which to that person is innocuous. Case in point, one local restaurant couldn’t get local hashgacha though they had a national one because their tuna fish wasn’t bishul yisrael. Now some hold that’s not necessary due to the way tuna fish is processed. It would be really unfortunate for rumors to be spreading that a particular hechsher is “not reliable/recommended” because it makes it sound like they put pork in it for pete’s sake, rather than a different holding on an issue that could be perfectly acceptable to some.
I’ve already said, I don’t know what the problem is; I only know that there is one, because people whom I trust and who are in an excellent position to know have warned me not to rely on it.
These are not people with no information, who are advising caution just on general principles. These are people with specific information about the hechsher, which they choose not to disclose. I follow their advice because I trust them not to give it to me without good reason.
I pass it on to the public for whatever it’s worth. By the nature of this medium you can’t possibly know how reliable my information is; if I told you exactly what was wrong with it you still wouldn’t know, because I might be making it all up. How would you possibly verify it? You’d have to take it on trust, or not, as you choose. So now you’re in exactly the same position.
Take it with as much salt as you take anything you read on a blog; but remember that you have no real basis for believing that the hechsher is reliable.
Oh oh, here we go again.
“Trusted Sources” give Milhouse reliable information we are told.
But Milhouse wont name his sources (and does not even give his own name) and can not provide any detail as to why the hasgacha is suspect. The problem is not sharing information to suggest that certain hasgachot might be avoided, but rather the inentional decison to hide information that would lead one to make an informed decision.
In sum, either provide detail or keep it to yourself.
Seattle Vaad says they aren’t reccomended (on their web page). Supposedly the CRC says the same thing (but that’s hearsay from kosherblog boards).
But I agree w/ milhouse, for those criticizing him, on what basis do you have that it is considered a reliable hasgacha?
Its not that I am saying the hasgacha is reliable. Rather, at the outset I stated the fact that ElAl had used the oversigtht. That seems not to be the case any more. I accept that change though I dont know why (could be economic, could be political could be related to actual kashrut - we dont know.) Thus, I have said nothing that would endorse AND nothing that would detract as I can not point to any FACTS or name any SOURCES. I am holding Milhouse to the same standards. If he would like to name his sources and provide his facts, great. If he will not, then stay on the sidelines.
As to the Seattle Vaad, please provide the link. I looked at the their website but only saw a list of marks that are deemed reliable. If the “do not use” list is there, I didnt see it.
This could continue to spiral. I hope that it does not.
It seems it is not there anymore, it was in this pdf file
http://www.seattlevaad.org/KosherSymbols.pdf
but it doesn’t exist anymore, but archive.org comes to the rescue
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.seattlevaad.org/KosherSymbols.pdf
my memory is not one to be doubted :) (even if it takes me 20 minutes to figure out why that is)
harlan, I posted the links on jan 3, but for some reasons the post is “awaiting moderation”. I figure kosherblog is a little sensitive about links, so no use trying again.
It would be much appreciated if someone could try to update the kashrus/hechsher discussion of TastyBite! There is a dearth of prepared Indian food available (this may be it!) so please people…
Let me just tell you people that you have all fallen for a lot of baseless loshon hora.
The hechsher is perfectly good, I have the rabbi and he is upstanding talmid chacham and if you are frei enough to use the internet you are frei enough to eat in his house and eat the products that he cerrifies. These factories get checked much more often than anything the OU supervizes.
Silly rumors and politics as usual
I will stick with the advice I have received from kashrus professionals who know the exact situation with this hechsher and have told me to STAY AWAY from it. And I will continue to pass that advice on to whoever cares to hear it.
Speaking of respectable kashrus professionals and which hashgachot we can trust, how about a warm Kblog “welcome out of prison” to Rabbi Baruch Lanner! Woo!
BS”D
Who is this rabbi? Jonas, if you tell me his name and a bit about him, I can try to check on him myself. I can’t take your word for it, because I know nothing about you. It is a fact that people can be wonderful rabbis and terrible at kashrus, and vice versa. Out in San Francisco, there was a rabbi who was probably the most knowledgeable in the area, who did shechita on chickens, but Petaluma Poultry Processors held the unplucked chickens in water hotter than the standard for yad soledes bo, and consequently the chickens were considered by most to be nonkosher, despite his insistence that they were kosher. Of course, he was a wonderful rabbi, and most would have eaten at his house, except for the poultry. I know another rabbi whom most people don’t hold by for kashrus, whom most hold by for other things. I know of another, who gives or gave hashgacha to Jello, who is considered a talmud chacham (but holds differently on gelatin than most people). Needless to say, most observant Jews don’ eat jello, even when they know the rabbi. So not holding by one’s kashrus doesn’t pasul a rabbi in other areas.
Milhouse:
WHERE ARE YOUR FACTS: YOU HAVE NONE!!
If you are so confident in your sources but unable to identify them at least reveal your real name so that we can evaluate whether you are reliable. Your comments have become libelous and really need to stop.
I have presented my facts. They’re as good as anybody else’s, and my name is no more relevant than yours or “Jonas”’s. None of the posters claiming that this is a good hechsher have revealed their names or how they know it’s good; they’re just asserting things.
The default presumption about any product must be that it is NOT kosher; the burden of proof is on those asserting that it is, and the mere presence of the word “kosher” on it doesn’t prove anything, because anybody can put it there, even in Hebrew.
It’s easy to just rely on any hechsher that someone happens to put on a packet, and it’s just as easy to dismiss any hechsher you haven’t heard of. But real facts are scarce, especially when the person giving the hechsher is in India, where there are few sources of information available to us. Into this vacuum, I am inserting real information. It may not be worth that much, but it’s more than zero, and that makes it more than anything that’s been said in favour of the hechsher.
Ultimately everybody can and will make up their own mind, but I am telling you what I know, which is that I have inquired of people who are in a position to know, and their answer has been unanimous. Note that their response was NOT that that they don’t know anything about it, and therefore advise caution. For that I don’t need professional advice, I can come up with that myself and so can everybody else. Instead the people I asked all said they know this person and his reliability, and that he should not be relied on. More than that they didn’t tell me, and I didn’t push. Some information may be confidential, and some may simply be lashon hara.
There’s no need for the consumer to know exactly why someone is not reliable, it’s enough to know that he isn’t. Providing details adds nothing - if you trust the source of the information then you can just trust them without knowing details, and if you don’t trust them then how do you know the details are true?
Has anyone here ever owned a pet gerbil? Have you ever watched your pet gerbil run on its little wheel for a long time? Have you ever wondered why it doesn’t get really bored of running on that wheel after a while?
I don’t wonder about that anymore.
Milhouse:
Howard has a point. This is a spin cycle. YOU ADDED NOTHING!!
And what has anyone else added, exactly? What I’ve added is something, which is better than nothing. You just don’t want to hear it.
An interesting tidbit from an email from OU Kosher today:
“OU Kosher urges everyone to realize that charges leveled in print can be, and often are, false. The Orthodox Union urges the kosher-consuming public to recognize such spurious innuendo for its true nature.”
Talk amongst yourselves.
Note that they don’t actually deny the allegation that the mashgiach wasn’t doing his job. The release is a masterpiece of careful wording.
Anyway, it’s not relevant here. The OU’s reputation is well-known, whatever may have happened at one factory most of a decade ago. Naturally it wants to play down anything that might reflect on that reputation. The hechsher we’re discussing has no reputation, good or bad; that’s precisely what we’re talking about.
FINALLY! Milhouse acknowledges that he knows nothing about the hasgacha at issue. Now you can stop with the unfounded attacks. If anyone has actual information, please share. Otherwise stop the insanity.
I have posted actual information about this hechsher. Second-hand information is still information. In fact, I’m the only one who has posted *any* actual information at all. Everything else that has been posted has been mere speculation and philosophising. I repeat: two independent sources who are personally familiar with this hechsher and are in a position to know whether it’s reliable have warned me not to rely on it.
MORE BABBLE FROM MILHOUSE. As yourself, ‘is this reliable?’…an anonymous source tells me to rely upon two other anonymous sources but wont reveal his identity and wont give any specifics.
Makes one wonder what kind of self interest you have in this issue Milhouse. Because if you didnt surely you would have found a way to tell us more than trust the man behind the curtain.
Milhouse, Harlan - please. I beg you to stop this.
This has gone on so long that I’m running out of witty metaphors to describe the back-and-forth… and 4 out of 5 dentists agree that I’m a really hilarious and witty person.
Just let it rest.
This is really sad.
A rabbi in good standing certifies products using his own name.
An anonymous coward blog commentator says that an anonymous coward rabbi says that for reasons that the rabbi would not disclose or did not know that a certain rabbi is unreliable in kashrut!
Why is this not rechilus? Where is the heter here. I would rather eat Pork Chops that believe this stuff, and so should you - it is MUCH more serious.
YOu people have NO understanding of kashrut. Till 60 years ago ALL Jews would travel around the world eating in Markets and Taverns and relying on non-Jewish store-owners to “certify” their products alongside their own common sense.
An industry has now built up tricking credulous Jews into buying value added products labeled Kosher as though this makes ANY difference.
This industry keeps thousands of the least able Yeshiva graduates in stable (if pointless) employment.
Any heter that these groups need to continue in business, they get. Any chumra that forces people to use their products they endorse. How convenient! That’s all there is too it. Think about that for a second.
So, for example, no matter what evidence is brought, the OU will NEVER EVER ban chalav st am since that will destroy their business plan.
For the same reason they will never allow pat palter without their hechker even though nearly all bread in the USA is 100% pat palter and this can be confirmed from the packaging.
Pat Palter (the bread of a professional non-Jewish baker) is allowed IF IT IS KOSHER! However, Pat Palter is not necessarily kosher. For example, the baking sheets could be lined with lard, or non-kosher or dairy ingredients could be used in the bread. The OU (and other kashrut organizations) verify that the ingredients are kosher, and presumably spot-check the bakeries every so often to make sure no funny business is going on. That is done to ensure that the Pat Palter is kosher. There may be situations where that isn’t necessary (for example, possibly in France, where strict laws govern bread bakeries), but by-and-large there is no reason to trust that a non-Jewish professional baker has any idea what the laws of kashrut require.
BS”D
And while not everyone agrees with Rav Moshe, zt”l, that Cholov Hacompanies satisfies all of the halachic requirements incumbent upon Cholov Yisroel (and therefore is cholov yisroel, but without some hashkafic criteria it’s preferable to have)everyone agrees that it’s an accepted opinion among many, and not just the OU. Moreover, the lomdus is fascinating and compelling. Having spent 3 weeks learning the breadth and history of though on cholov Yisroel, from the Gemara through Rishonim and early and late Acharonim, it’s evident that differences of opinion stretched way back, focused upon severl issues. Look, even Rav Moshe, Zt”l didn’t agree with the Pri Chadash, who used non-cholov-Yisroel in Amsterdam, as did the majority of Sephardim though through different lomdus Rav Moshe came to a superficially similar conclusion. So the bottom line is that the OU is perfectly fine in holding by Rav Moshe, zt”l, in not banning Cholov Hacompanies (but not cholov stam, which is what Jonas asserts).
Sigh. Let’s not start this again. Jonas, you have no basis for claiming that the person certifying TastyBite is “a rabbi in good standing”; you’re just as anonymous as anybody here (except Craig), and your word is just as suspect.
Great News. Certain of the Tasty Bite Thai themed products now also bear the KIS hasgacha. Additionally, Kohinoor (SP??) branded, shelf stable indian food have also started bearing the KIS stamp.
Sigh. I appreciate the gesture on the manufacturer’s part, and just wish they’d gone with a more reliable hechsher.
what is kis?
The same Bombay hechsher that’s on TastyBite’s Indian products. The one we’ve been going round and round about.
KIS is the Indian Kosher Inspection Service.
Little known fact - the religious Jewish community in India is splintered on whether to accept this hecksher. Some do. Those who don’t will only accept the other Indian heckshers. They eat very little.
BS”D
I don’t see what the big deal is. We don’t discuss triangle-K anymore, we don’t discuss the tablet-K on Cabot and other cheese, Gorton’s of Glouscester and VanderKamp’s fish sticks anymore, we just recognize that many among us don’t hold by those hechsherim in certain cases or in all cases. Is this any different? Those who hold by KIS will no doubt continue to do so, and those who don’t won’t. So why devote so much space and energy to this? You ask people who you trust, and come to your own conclusions. There’s nothing to be gained anymore except baiting. It probably deserved one comment about the nonuniversality of support for the hechsher, but not the endless haranguing. I know, coming from me, who will argue ad infinitem given the chance, it sounds a little strange.
I have no problem revealing my full name, as well as the name of the frum Kashrus supervisor I asked about this hecksher. The primary goal is to find out if one can rely on a certain hecksher, and I am happy to pass along the information.
Rabbi Dovid Jenkins of Passaic NJ (where I live) and who now runs the Half Moon K has said that Kosher Inspection Service products are Kosher on an item-by-item basis. He is willing to be consulted on this issue. To save him the bother of being asked by many different people, please email me directly if you would like to get input from him on particular products. As a Kosher and mostly vegetarian chef, I am personally delighted to learn that there are ANY Indian or Thai product s under supervision. Please, no more comments on reliability. I have provided my own contact information, as well as the name and supervising agency I will consult, and you can either rely on that information or not.
Best,
Rebecca
rebeccafriedman@yahoo.com
Well, it would seem the question at issue is whether TastyBite Indian and Thai food bearing the KIS are considered Kosher by R.Jenkins.
When did Rabbi Dovid Jenkins who runs the Half Moon K located in California from Passaic NJ (I love long distance relationships) become the epitome of kashrus decisors? He worked for Kof K then got bounced out, worked at the cRc got bounced out and then bought into the Half Moon K after Rabbi Chaim Hisiger (now in NY) left. People, please wake up and smell the roses. Most of you eat from the KVH (Mass Vaad) that has had bakeries open on Shabbat for years. How come Kellogg’s went OU was the KVH not acceptable enough? The only reason you hold by the OU is because you have been mentalty inundated with the OU since you were small. In Israel amongst the American’s that are in-the-know OU is NOT accepted. The OU is not a Mehadrin service and never was. One of the top three hashgachot (B’Datz Mehadrin) in Israel, its director used to be associated with the OU; how come he broke off ties with the OU years ago. There were full page articles in all the newspapers in Israel but all if us were sheltered from it but I got plenty of e-mails with scans of all the articles. How is it the local Mehadrin kashrut agencies located in Israel state on a good many of their products “only for usage during the year” while the OU that only has a handful of people in Israel marks on these same products “OU P” Kosher for Passover? Am I missing something here or are we all?
You blow your nose and you say,”pass me a Kleenex(R),” (Kimberly-Clark), pass me the Coke(R) (Coca-Cola) even it is a an RC cola product. Xerox(R) this for me please but you are using a HP(R) another well-known brand. As kosher consumers we have become so accustomed with the OU and the other more prominent symbols that we no longer question the reliability of their kashrut; are we that trusting or that stupid? You throw stones at the Shield Star K as you are unfamiliar with it and the Triangle K as you feel he is too lenient; where are you getting your facts from? The Tablet K, I would not touch with a lengthy pole.(you are welcome to ask me off the blog). You are getting your facts from other rabbis who are most likely actively involved in kashrut is some way and they are called “no-gaya badavar.” If they don’t like the way the guys parts his hair or for whatever reason they won’t tell you nice things about him. Coca-Cola for many years was fine till the people at the OK wanted it and then the OU eyed it and now it is the OU’s. I wonder how all of that came about - surely no lashon hara was spoken as it isn’t kosher. How about all those years that some of us enjoyed Drakes Cake under the Triangle K and even the yeshivish crowd ate them at least those that were not concerned about Chalav Yisrael; wonder how they became presto chango to OU? How is it the Star K was started in 1947 but there is no history of the Star K existing before then why is that? It is because it never existed only in someone’s head not on paper. Why did the OU retract its hashgacha on ELAL meals; did any of you know that? DO NOT LOOK at the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as a ruler stick where kashrut is concerned as it is a political body and its agenda is to make money for the gov’t. The religious / kashrut observant communities in Israel DO NOT rely on the Rabbanut for anything. Israel is the only country in the world that descriminates on what is legitimately kosher in other parts of the world and rejects them from entering the country. Kashrut is a BIG MONEY business people. The author of this blog is not in kashrut so I will give him the benefit of doubt but cashews and raisins have to be thoroughly checked for infestation ESPECIALLY coming from India. India is best known for Basmati rice and the rice has been found with dark spots; what are those dark spots? Those innocent chick peas can also be infested so someone has to check them too. If we are presently having problems with infestation in our part of the world where it isn’t all that warm and a perfect climate for breeding insects (e coli is a different story), India is a perfect breeding ground for a lot of things as it is constantly hot and the water supply is less than desirable. Mashgichim that have come back from India have become violently sick and one almost died (chas v’shalom) last week in Israel.
For those of you having a dispute over the usage of the Aleph Bet hashgacha should ask themselves a few questions. Does this rabbi have a full-time mashgiach present to check all the vegetables, nuts, raisins and other items that go into these products? Since there is a very small observant community in India who is doing the checking of these two production facilities to make sure they are adherent to strict kashrut standards? I know the answers, it is you that need to ponder these questions over and then answer them considering what you know is required to maintain proper kashrut standards especially with the ingredients involved that is if you care. As my friend would always sign off, I too sign off with Caveat Emptor!!
(betyosef600@hotmail.com)
BS”D
So Baruch, what’s your point? Or is it just a random rant about kashrus?
B’Seyata D’Shemya - Providence. A commentator above stated, “don’t open a can of worms.” Would all of you like to eat blindly without ever knowing the truth about the rabbi? Are you really that hard-up for new foods? #5 nonmevushalmarc lives in a barren wasteland and the reason for that is that a rabbi that tried to make things right a number of years ago got stomped on by his own “orthodox” colleagues and community and left him with a bad reputation. I would eat anything this symbol appeared on without question. A hechsher this rabbi help start got stomped on by a biased individual on this site who undoubtedly never did too much research but called it unreliable. Did that individual bother to find out if the organization has poskim? Not everything that glistens is golden that goes with all kashrut agencies. A good reputation means that you keep your nose clean and out of trouble, don’t ruffle any feathers otherwise your goose is cooked. I would like a lot more scrutiny on the major hashgachot and then you won’t be so quick to down the somewhat smaller ones.
TYPO : e-mail address correction: betyosef6000@hotmail.com
I hope you all don’t mind me joining your discussion. I really enjoy Indian food, but Kosher Indian food is so hard to come by. Making my own would be the best alternative, but even some of the spices are hard to find. Tasty bite seemed like a viable option. I follow the Star-K, so I contacted them. The Star-K recommended against this product.
With that said, does anyone know of a brand of prepared Indian food that does have a more universally accepted hashgacha?
Or, on a different note, is there any possibility that the KIS is taking action to gain more worldwide acceptance?