J. P. Licks – kosher no more?
Word on the street is that local ice cream chain J. P. Licks is considering disassociating from the Va’ad (i.e. they would no longer be certified kosher). I don’t know the reasoning, but we speculate they they want to expand their offerings of non-ice-cream foodstuffs (pastries, breakfast foods, hot drinks, etc.) and limiting themselves to kosher products and ingredients has been a financial and gustatoy hurdle for them. If you have any interest in having the chain maintain its certification – even if you yourself don’t keep kosher, have you ever chosen this as a meeting place with your kosher friends? even if you don’t live in town, do you appreciate having the store available when you are here? – please visit your local J. P. Licks in the near future and, as you pay, let them know your opinion. Also, please spread the word.
Cross-posted to Devarim.
I think it’s much too early to speculate, especially with no real basis for any of the available “theories” — and we have no idea if the rumor is legit. In any case, it’s worth looking into, and we’ll certainly be making a visit to JP Licks this weekend.
Another concerned consumer emailed J. P. Licks via their website and received the following two responses:
And, when told about the polling and comment card distribution at the Brookline location on Saturday night:
So, while we probably will not face the prospect of the entire chain going treif, there is a distinct possibility of at least one location becoming non-kosher. This could set the precedent for other locations to beomce non-kosher as well. Not such a terrible loss, until you consider that the locations most likely to drop supervision are those farthest from the centers of Jewish activity, and therefore the most necessary when you find yourself in a neighborhood with no other source of kosher sustenance. (Granted, it’s just ice cream, but still…)
Is this really a problem? The ice cream, presumably, would remain the same, as would the assorted toppings, etc. It’s all cold, so the utensils shouldn’t be an issue. Is there something I’m missing?
Who’s to say that the newly not-kosher location wouldn’t use some non-kosher toppings that contain gelatin or other problematic things? Also, I don’t know if JP Licks makes their ice cream in a factory and ships it to the locations or makes it onsite. If they make it in the store and the store is not under supervision it can not be considered kosher. Also, some people won’t rely on ice cream parlors that serve kosher ice cream but do not have supervision on the establishment.
Even if they made the ice cream in the store, if you knew the ingredients, why would you need supervision? Somebody call Rav Abadi! :-)
How are you going to know the ingredients? You personally are going to keep tabs on everything they make, every ingredient they use, and be aware of any sudden changes they might employ for convenience’s sake? You will have access to their invoices that show what ingredients they are ordering? If they have a flavor that has non-kosher ingredients, how can you be sure that they don’t manufacture the kosher-ingredient flavors on the same equipment in the presence of heat? Only supervision can ensure this.
If you feel comfortable eating ice cream based strictly on ingredients that is certainly you’re perogative and your business but that doesn’t work for everybody.
I’m just asking . . .
Will,
WADR to R. Abadi – the 2% thing was not invented by Hashgacha agencies – there is just a misinterpretation of what the 2% is. See this article on why you still should get things with hashgacha – http://www.kashrut.com/articles/LabelingLaw/
The upshot is that the FDA does not generally enforce food labeling laws and that it is left up to the states to do so and they receive no federal funding to do so. Just FYI.
Pure FUD. Please stop throwing around words such as “treif” to describe a product which does not have certification. It is, at best, a misuse of the term, and at worst, lashon hara. Saying, “I don’t know if this is kosher” is not the same thing as saying, “This isn’t certified, and is therefore treif.” Such foolishness has lead to certification of bottled water and plastic wrap, for goodness sakes. It’s got to stop, before it’s too late and we’re all afraid to do anything without checking in with big brother, aka the OU.
As many local Orthodox Jews over the age of 50 have told me clearly: “the ice cream we grew up eating most didn’t have certification – are you saying we were stupid, ate non-kosher, or both?” Or, as a local Orthodox rabbi once told me, as said by his teacher/rebbe, “I suppose you could make non-kosher ice cream, but you would really have to work at it”. Perhaps it’s fair to say that there are more “toppings” around these days that might contain problematic ingredients; then again, if one is concerned, leave of the toppings about which you are concerned. I prefer my ice cream pure, so no worries for me.
Now, how about we go open a nice bottle of non-certified American beer and chill out? It’s OK, really it is.
bShalom,
-Nathan