R’ Heinemann Recap, Part 1
My first batch of notes from Rabbi Moshe Heinemann’s lecture earlier tonight at the Young Israel of Brookline, on cutting-edge issues in kashrut. Any errors in the information below are my fault. (Besides, R’ Heinemann insisted that these are solely his opinions, and the only halacha that matters is from one’s own rabbi.)
SHEMITAH
Shemitah begins next year, which presents problems in the US with produce of Israeli origin, grown on Jewish lands. We must be careful only to purchase Israeli produce with a heksher. A custom in Jerusalem is to eat fruits and vegetables grown on Arab lands during this time, and the Star-K does likewise, having made agreements with Israel’s largest vegetable companies to only sell Arab produce. This causes an interesting economic situation: the price of normally cheap Arab produce doubles, and the price of Jewish produce drops. Since there’s generally less demand for Arab produce, Arabs simply don’t grow the quantities necessary to fulfill this unusual Israeli demand — and will sometimes purchase now-cheap Jewish produce to fulfill it, negating the entire shemitah-respecting effort.
As such, the Star-K has contracted with a French satellite company to take pictures of Arab farms every five minutes to discover any illicit deliveries of Jewish produce. The image resolution is high enough that a truck’s license plate can be read, and appropriate action may be taken.
BUGS
Insect infestation in produce is more of a problem today, not because of new chumrot or overzealous rabbis, but because of bugs’ increasing pesticide resistance and the government’s prohibition against using the levels of pesticide needed to kill this century’s uber-bugs. With stronger bugs, and fewer chemicals in our arsenal, there are simply more insects appearing in our food.
In response, the Star-K is refining a “leaf camera” system that can distinguish between a bug’s protein and a leaf’s carbohydrates. When installed in an industrial setting, lettuce leaves with detectable protein content can be pushed aside. Unfortunately, they’re not 100% sure it’ll work, and it still isn’t fast enough to satisfy industrial demands.
ORGANIC MEAT
An organic meat company approached the Star-K for certification, thinking that a heksher would attract more customers. The Star-K informed the company that about 80% of kosher slaughters are problem-free, and ultimately there’s a yield of 33% glatt kosher in a normal meat processing environment. Given that organically-raised animals are purported to be healthier, they estimated that an organic yield might be as high as 60-80% glatt. Before the Star-K agreed, they recommended that they observe the company’s existing non-kosher operations, and simply check the animals after slaughter to see if they’d have been glatt. The results were dismal: only 3% of the company’s organic beeves would have been considered glatt. Since they were raised without antibiotics, their livers were overwhelmed by parasites.
TROPICAL OILS FROM ASIA
Tropical oils are popular additives in shelf-stable baked goods, since they’re solid at room temperature. These days, the cheapest source of tropical oils is Asia, where the stuff is shipped out in massive, massive quantities. Before the breads and cakes hit your bakery’s shelves, the kashrut challenges have begun: the whole supply chain presents significant hurdles. The ships have huge carrying tanks, which may at any time be filled with kosher or non-kosher oils (i.e. animal fat). Because these fats become solid at room temperature, they must be heated during transit to stay liquid. When the ships arrive in the US, they unload their cargo into special terminals with heated storage tanks. One hot-water heating system may service up to ten tanks. From the coasts, the oils are sent by rail and truck (both, again, in heated tanks) to factories across the country.
Dealing with the ships is especially difficult since they’re quite resistant to kashrut oversight, but the Star-K has a lot of experience handling the trucks. Federal law prohibits the use of one tanker for both edible and non-edible liquids, but one tanker could easily transport alternating batches of kosher and non-kosher products. So the tanks need to be kashered, fine, but the cabs? They, too, present a problem. Since the pump used to fill and empty the tank needs a power source, it’s part of the cab, and not the tank. That must be kashered, too. Cabs are frequently swapped in and out — breakdowns, new drivers, etc. — so detailed record-keeping and tracking is key.
CHINA
According to R’ Heinemann, there are unique challenges in working with Chinese companies seeking kosher certification, because of the acceptability of deception within their business culture. For example, any foods made with glycerin — an animal byproduct — will render the endeavor mutually unprofitable, so the Star-K routinely asks for that information upfront. The Chinese company will say no — and when the rabbi arrives, lo and behold, the facility has 200,000 gallons of glycerin, and the company doesn’t think it’s a big deal. He says they’re not unlike Jews: a chuppah is called for 4:30, but it starts at 5 — does the family apologize to their guests? No, we just expect that a Jewish event won’t be on time!
Bugs are a particularly pervasive problem in China. Consider mushrooms. In the US, most mushrooms are grown in Pennsylvania, in underground caves where the temperature and humidity are constant year round. In such consistent conditions, mushrooms grow bug-free. In China, mushrooms are grown above-ground, and the mushroom industry is very much a mom-and-pop operation. An individual harvester will sell an individual basket of mushrooms to a produce company, where it’s mixed in with everyone else’s small batches. In this environment, widespread inspection for bugs (and use of kosher cutting tools) is near impossible.
Coming up in part 2: Appliances, propylene glycol, bishul akum of canned goods, use of cut fruit and fish.
Interesting stuff. Still, there were a couple of things he said that confuse me.
If “Insect infestation in produce is more of a problem today because of bugs’ increasing pesticide resistance”, what were the bugs like before the modern era of pesticide use began? Aside from things like lead and arsenic–and natural pesticides like plant extracts–pesticides didn’t come into large scale agricultural use until after WWII.
And if Glatt Kosher organic beef is that impractical, how does WISE manage to keep their hecksher (they’re under the OU)?
It would be best to put a recording of the talk on the Internet. If one exists, I have the space to put it up.
It is always best to hear what the speaker actually said, as opposed to a summary from notes.
YL
YL– I, too, would have preferred to offer a recording, but I was unable to make one.
Elizabeth– I’d recommend reading Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma to get a better sense about the fallout from industrial agriculture.
This is the custom in Jerusalem? Really? This is one approach taken by poskim as to how one should eat produce grown in Israel in the shemittah year. I find it a stretch to call this the traditional way that Jerusalemites address this problem (others rely on the heter mechirah or otzar beit din)
I know of other poskim here that say that it is completely forbidden to purchase fruit from Arab’s. It is a tremendous Chillul Hashem (desecration of God’s name) for Jews anywhere (and especially in America) to economically support people who are actively involved in murdering Jews and who support the hatred of Jews. By putting money into their pockets, you are supporting their “charities” and terrorist foundations, you are strengthening them economically while helping to weaken Jewish farmers in Israel.
If you must have specific produce that is only grown in Israel and during the shemittah year can only be bought from Arab farmers, please go back to Trader Joes or Whole Foods – I am sure that it is also grown somewhere else in the world.
Just remember – something might be technically kosher l’mehadrin, and still be completely treif through and through!
When did the kosher blog become the racist blog? First, the Chinese are liars; now, all Arabs are murderers. ?
The corruption and misdirection in China’s business world is notable, not to mention the lack of labor protections and free speech. I wouldn’t dare chalk it up to race — it’s most likely a byproduct of an oppressive Communist government. I’d recommend reviewing a lot of the coverage NPR has been doing on China’s economy.
In any case, Yehuda, please don’t shoot the messenger.
@jabbet – Thanks for amending the text above to make it clear that this is not the only custom in Jerusalem.
@Yehuda – “all Arabs are murderers.“. Where did I make this statement above? Saying that members of the Arab farming industry and those who benefit from their economic gains support the murder of Jews is not some made up racist propaganda. It is based on the events in Israel over the past century in general, and the past 5 years in particular.
And just because it may not sound politically correct to say that some level of deception is considered acceptable within Chinese industry does not make it untrue or racist. Do you really think that the Rabbis who travel there make up these allegations because they are all racists, they think that the Chinese are all liars and despite having no reason to do so, want to sabotage any kosher products originating from within China, because of these racist feelings?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/opinion/07mon2.html
Let me clarify my position, which was directed much more to the content of the notes than to the reporter…
I guess I wonder what is gained from a broad critique of Chinese business culture as part of a discussion of Kashrut, especially when the entire premise of the Kashrut industry is one of supervision. Why not just not give supervision to companies that are not up to par and end with that? Its not that I am a Sinophile, but I suspect that this route of blaming “Chinese business culture” as the reason for kashrut failings stems from what I see as an unfortunate tendency in the Kosher world to play up a general outlook of “us” vs. “them.” Ne’emanut – the ability to trust non-Jews in the preparation of kosher food – is just one factor among many in determining reliability, but it is not uncommon to hear it assumed as the most significant criterion in kashrut status. I think this is attributable more to a cultural/ideological stance by observant Jews than to anything else; and when it gets folded into specific accusations against a broad business culture, it makes me uncomfortable. I would be perfectly happy for suspicious Chinese companies to not get supervision, and I won’t buy their stuff; the same goes for suspicious American companies. Does the inflammatory rhetoric really contribute to the conversation?
Accusing the Kosher Blog of being “racist” is certainly directed “at the reporter,” and it’s just the kind of “inflammatory rhetoric” that we all ought to avoid. (Is it more constructive to employ unsubstantiated vagueries against not just Rabbi Heinemann, but the entire “kosher world”? Suggesting “unfortunate tendencies” which are “not uncommon” perpetrated by “observant Jews” makes me uncomfortable.)
I’m not an unreasonable fellow, and in the interest of mending fences and simply bringing this thread to a comfortable conclusion, I’ve changed the verbiage in my post. The essence is that the business culture in China does indeed present difficulties. In fact, I believe what was said was actually positive: while I’m sure the Star-K has no problem rejecting companies over their unkosher practices, working in China is an expensive endeavor, and they want to make the most of their financial outlay. Despite these difficulties, the Star-K continues to reach out to Chinese industry, certify their products, and make them accessible to new markets in the US and the rest of the Jewish world. It just makes business sense on both sides for things to go smoothly.
As a final note, please enjoy this news piece about Jack Ma, “a forward-looking entrepreneur with the ambitious goal of changing China’s corporate culture,” whose employees are “are drilled in the company values of integrity, honesty, passion and teamwork.”
It’s funny how coincidences happen… this week’s Rav Kook D’var Torah discusses conflicting opinions between the Ridbaz and Rav Kook regarding the sale of land during a Shemittah year.
Okay, mea culpa. I love the Kosher Blog; and I’m a member of the observant, Kosher world! Thanks for the revision, and in exchange I offer my apology and a commitment to cleaner language.
And there was much rejoicing!
Regarding the Star-K’s (and the OU’s) new protocol for strawberries, it bears noting the both the FDA and the USDA warn against washing fruits in dishwashing detergent/soap as the fruits may absorb potentially unsafe chemicals. Are these policies just an example of shomer pasaim Hashem?
BS”D
We use a food grade detergent, Environne’ Fruit & Vegetable Wash, whixh is hechshered. It is considered safe, at least by the company that makes it- don’t know that there’s ever been any 3rd party health studies- but it’s “100% natural”, and we figure it’s better than dishwashing liquid.
Interesting conversation….I found this site during a google search. I had read several NYT articles about supposedly food-grade additives produced in China that killed children who had a particular additive in their cough medicine. The article described the difficulty tracing back to the manufacturer particularly in China, that some companied purchased in China then re-sold the product to make it more difficult to trace back.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/world/americas/06poison.html?ex=1183262400&en=97251ec066e6d401&ei=5070
In my mind the only authority I would trust right now to oversee food production in China are those giving Kosher certification!
So I am hoping that some of my favorite canned imports will either be certified or an equivalent will be produced outside of China.