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KOAOA, Jelly Belly make kosher strides

By jabbett
Published June, 27 2007 11:30 am
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The Kosher Overseers Association of America (KOAOA, or Half-Moon-K) recently announced that they’ve completed their full and thorough review of “virtually all of the companies and products” under their purview, and brought their practices up to “all of the standards that the Kosher-consuming public has the right to demand.” It’s instructive to note that one of the signatures on the press release is that of Senior Kashrus Administrator Rabbi Zushe Blech of Monsey, a major figure in the kashrut industry with ties to the Orthodox Union and Montreal Kosher. I guess there’s no better way to get a foundering heksher up on its feet than to pull in a nationally-respected authority: the Seattle Va’ad HaRabanim has already updated its rather strict list of recommend hekshers to include the Half-Moon K. (Hat tip to readers Elanit and Zorach for the details.)

This one’s for the gipper: Also shaping up is the Jelly Belly Candy Company, whose jelly beans are now under Orthodox Union supervision. Left behind in the wake of the kashrut switch is Ko Kosher Service of Pennsylvania, Jelly Belly’s former certifier, which is probably best known for allowing carmine in its certified products and the silly music and dancing rabbis on its aging website. (Hat tip to NonMevushalMarc for this one.)

28 comments so far (Post your own)
1.At 11:58 am on June 27th, 2007, Howard wrote:

Nicely done, Jabbett, with the Reagan reference.

2.At 2:56 pm on June 27th, 2007, Fern wrote:

Oooh, I’m glad to hear that Jelly Bellies will be under better supervision. I love sour jelly bellies. If anyone is ever on vacation in the San Francisco Bay Area the Jelly Belly factory tour is a really fun place for kids to visit.

Also, thanks for the info about Half Moon K. I saw their heksher on something the other day and didn’t recognize it, I’m glad to know that they are a reliable kosher certifier.

3.At 3:41 pm on June 27th, 2007, Carolyn wrote:

Woo Hoo! Happy days!

We’re always looking for pareve non-perishable treats to serve in case of emergency. This is good news, indeed.

KosherBlog gets the scoop again.

Thank you!

4.At 1:59 am on June 28th, 2007, Safranit wrote:

Thank you for the information!!! Lets see if triangle K can now surprise us…

5.At 9:03 am on June 28th, 2007, Janet wrote:

If you have allegations that kosher agencies permit ingredients you believe to be non-kosher, please give sources both that they permit the ingredient, and sources that the ingredient is non-kosher.

There was a rumor that triangle K permitted carmine, which R Ralbag says is not true. See:

http://www.canonist.com/?p=322

Some people won’t eat grape products certified by triangle-K, as though triangle-K is relying on a shady opinion. According to the interview, they allow grape juice pasteurized at 175 F, rather than 180 or 190 of other agencies, following a tshuva of Rav Moshe. If Rav Moshe permits 175, certainly we can agree it’s permitted, and only a stringency to require higher. People can prefer the stringency, but they do not have license to violate a Torah commandment and speak rechilut about Rabbi Ralbag.

6.At 5:35 pm on June 28th, 2007, Joe wrote:

Sunkist fruit Gems (one of a very few pareve national brand candies) changed producers recently to the Jelly Belly co. and I was pretty scared that they would use KO and we wouldnt be able to use them anymore. I actually called and talked to someone about the concept of reliable hechshers. I doubt my little phone call made the difference, but who knows?

7.At 10:38 pm on June 28th, 2007, Carolyn wrote:

Joe, if that’s true, then thank you!

We get Hot Tamales and Mike&Ikes at Wal-Mart for 88 cents a box. I keep a cabinet full of them for evening meetings.

Our shul has Sunkist Fruit Gems written into their simcha contracts! Really. It’s the only candy allowed for throwing.

8.At 6:31 pm on July 3rd, 2007, Fern wrote:

Our shul has Sunkist Fruit Gems written into their simcha contracts! Really. It’s the only candy allowed for throwing.

LOL, mine too!

9.At 11:04 am on July 5th, 2007, SLS wrote:

Rabbi Eidlitz of Kosherquest.org has endorsed the new standards of KOAOA as well, which means the products are now allowed in my house. I had a friend pick me up some Pace Thick & Chunky on the way to our cookout yesterday. :)

And for anyone who is not familiar with Rabbi Eidlitz & Kosherquest, the man is probably the pre-eminent Rav when it comes to Kashrus agencies & how they stack up. His “accepted” list is what I use. He also is quite accessible via email, and always very helpful & responsive to queries.

10.At 1:56 pm on July 5th, 2007, Kosher Critic wrote:

While R. Eidlitz published the above-referenced announcement from KOAOA and has deemed acceptable every Half-Moon K product I have ever asked him about, the KOAOA has yet to be officially added to his list of reliable symbols. I hope this happens soon.

11.At 11:55 pm on July 5th, 2007, SLS wrote:

KC,

I too didn’t think that him including the press release without comment was enough of a surety, so I asked him directly. “Does your including this in your update mean that you would now recommend KOAOA, with the exception of those points listed??

His response was “That is correct. Kol Tuv”

12.At 10:26 am on July 6th, 2007, Kosher Critic wrote:

Thanks for the info. SLS!

13.At 3:47 pm on July 6th, 2007, MS wrote:

Does anyone have a product listing for Half Moon K? Their website is pretty useless!

14.At 8:55 am on July 9th, 2007, YS wrote:

I can confirm SLS’s comment 11 as I asked the same question. Additionally, I asked what the status of stuff sitting on store shelves is. He replied that anything from the last 6 months should be OK, and to ask on an item-by-item basis for anything else.

15.At 10:43 am on July 31st, 2007, Michael Rogovin wrote:

They are NOT on the Seattle Vaad page, nor the cRc page or the Kosherquest. I hope that changes soon.

16.At 11:12 am on July 31st, 2007, warren wrote:

It WAS added to the Seattle Vaad site, but when I checked last week it had been removed. I also sent e mails @ 7/15 to kosherquest.org and the CRC seeking their confirmation that it was now acceptable and have yet to hear back.

17.At 1:21 pm on July 31st, 2007, Tom Johnson wrote:

Kosherquest.org never writes back.

18.At 1:22 pm on July 31st, 2007, alyssa kaplan wrote:

that’s not true;he has written to me

19.At 9:11 am on August 2nd, 2007, Michael Rogovin wrote:

According to R. Eidlitz (Kosherquest), there are two remaining companies being reviewed. Once these are done he will list KOAOA on his Website. I wrote to the crc, but they have not yet responded.

20.At 4:00 pm on August 2nd, 2007, Kosher Critic wrote:

Has anyone contacted the Seattle Va’ad to see what happened? Kosherquest reports that HMK has reviewed the outstanding products (Crown Prince and Dole). I second Alyssa - R. Eidlitz is very good about responding to e-mails. M.R. - the CRC is very conservative as to its list (note e.g., the absence of the London Beit Din and Rabbanut HaReshit) and I would not expect to see the HMK added anytime soon.

21.At 6:05 pm on August 2nd, 2007, Kosher Critic wrote:

This is the response I received from the Seattle Va’ad to my inquiry as to why HMK is no longer on their list:

Because, although we do not doubt that it is acceptable, our Rabbinical Board has not officially approved it. They are waiting for the national agencies to issue a statement. It is more a procedural issue than anything.

—
Seattle Va’ad Administrator

22.At 7:24 pm on August 2nd, 2007, alyssa kaplan wrote:

what’s hmk?

23.At 8:10 pm on August 2nd, 2007, Craig Winchell wrote:

BS”D

Half-Moon K

24.At 11:33 pm on September 5th, 2007, warren wrote:

B/t/w, when I wrote to Rabbi Eidlitz a second time, he did respond and advised that the HMK is now acceptable.

Warren

25.At 1:28 pm on September 30th, 2007, john wrote:

are jelly belly beans kosher or not?

26.At 3:04 pm on September 30th, 2007, alyssa kaplan wrote:

they are going to be under the OU;the packaging does not reflect the change as of yet

27.At 8:02 pm on October 24th, 2007, Avraham wrote:

Pre-eminent or Post-eminent Rav? Please stop throwing terms around.
FYI: Eliezer Eidlitz gets “all” of his information and all directives are from the Star K. He has been the unofficial Star K person on the West Coast for years.

28.At 10:18 pm on October 24th, 2007, Craig Winchell wrote:

BS”D

Does that mean the Star-K koshered my smoker? Wow, that’s fantastic. I thought it was Rabbi Furst and Rabbi Eidlitz. And I wasn’t charged a cent- does that mean that the Star-K doesn’t charge for hashgacha? Why does the star-K need unofficial people on the West Coast when it has official representatives, such as Joel Weinberger? It’s true that he gets some information from the Star-K, as he does from the OU and OK and Kof-K (I remember once he got incorrect info from one of the hashgachas, not Star-K- and that’s enough to disprove your statement). And it’s true that he has an association with Rav Heinemann, such as being one of those bringing him out to pasken the Valley Eruv. Well, he associates with many people. But what’s your beef against the Star-K, or against Rabbi Eidlitz?

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