Whole Foods “Passover Menu” NOT KOSHER FOR PASSOVER
You may have recently seen a Passover Menu (PDF) from Whole Foods Market in the mail, online, or as an insert in the Jewish Advocate. As a public service, the Kosher Blog would like to stress that the items marked as “kosher” (by Kosher Technical Konsultants) in the menu are not kosher for Passover! The menu indicates that they aren’t K-for-P, that they’re only “Passover style,” but the text is small and someone could easily be deceived when reading a “Passover” menu with “kosher” items.
The only Kosher for Passover item on the menu is the Payard Flourless Cake, certified by Rabbi Michel Gugenheim.
The upside of all this is that the Whole Foods in Brighton will once again be having an “Ask the Rabbi” session from 11AM-3PM this Sunday (April 10) with Rabbi Posner of the Kenmore Chabad. Samples of English cholov yisroel cheeses (suitable for Passover) will be available.
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Country Hen Eggs
Unlike most Kosher Blog product recommendations, this one’s almost as simple as a product can get: eggs. I’ve been using Country Hen Eggs (from Hubbardston, MA) for several weeks now, and have noticed their particularly deep yellow yolks, firm shells, low prevalence of blood spots (haven’t found one yet), and the interesting little newsletters stuck in their cartons. Plus, their birds are raised on a farm that seems almost regal compared to typical chicken treatment: spacious sunlit barns, organic feed, natural ventilation, and outdoor porches.
My review would almost be unequivocal, if I hadn’t noticed in their last carton newsletter that their eggs are now “certified kosher” by Natural Food Certifiers’ Apple-K Kosher Program. I am not convinced that whole, natural eggs require kosher supervision. In fact, even though the Orthodox Union’s article on the subject discusses all the potential issues with modern egg processing that could create kashrut problems, the author concludes, “All of our Kosher concerns regarding raw eggs turned out not to be of any Halachic significance.” Additionally, the Star-K mentions parenthetically in an article on industrial egg use that “eggs commonly available are always kosher.”
Perhaps Country Hen is wasting its money on this aruguably unnecessary certification? “Kosher” or not, they’re great eggs… give them a try. And remember, “brown eggs are local eggs, and local eggs are fresh!”
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I wasn’t looking for a Hechsher, but…
Boruch Hashem, Oriental Trading (my favorite bulk shlock store) is offering chocolate Easter eggs with a big cross on the wrapper - Kosher! This is almost as good as the Ham Glaze mix with O-U certification! Years ago, my mother-in-law was very persistent in getting Oriental Trading to identify all the Kosher items their catalog. Good to see that her hard work has paid off. They actually have a number of products that they claim are Kosher. No, I didn’t inquire whose Hashgacha it is - but if I recall correctly, I think they’ll send you a list of the product certifications, on request.
What products have you seen with valid certification, that you didn’t think we needed kosher?
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Finally, a treyfe fruit!
Just when you thought the list of foods not requiring kosher supervision was short enough, the fine folks in Washington State’s apple country have introduced a new fruit that isn’t kosher according to this month’s Star-K kashrut alerts.
Meet the grapple (”grape-L”), an unassuming Fuji apple that tastes like a Concord grape. My first thought was, “oh, it’s probably a grape thing, that’s why it isn’t kosher.” Well, the grapple is processed with “artificial flavors and fatty acids,” so I don’t think real, unkosher grape juice is the problem, just random offending additives.
In any case, I haven’t decided yet which is more absurd: a treyfe fruit, or the marketing geniuses who thought that apples should be more like grapes, that people would suddenly overcome their aversion to apples if they just had grape flavor, or that it was simply too time-consuming for folks to eat apples AND grapes.
Reminds me of the Onion’s report of new Frito-Lay product “Doritos Soft” — “exciting new partially digested version of the popular snack chip” … “‘cuz you’re too biz-zay for chewin’.”
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Israeli Foie Gras production to end
I apparently missed this news (Jerusalem Post, registration avoidable) when it emerged, but it’s a salient story given the current climate of religious slaughter: the Knesset Education Committee will no longer extend a grace period for Israel’s foie gras industry to submit new, kinder regulations for the force-feeding of geese to produce the fleishig delicacy of over-fattened liver, thus ending the production of FG in the Jewish state.
The two sides of the issue, as put forth in the article, are as such:
• Force-feeding geese is cruel and should be stopped.
• The 70 foie gras producers in Israel employ 500 people, generate 70,000,000 shekels annually, and export half of their product.
• The Agriculture ministry is testing “shorter, silicon feeding tubes” and a shorter feeding period to ameliorate the negative impact force feeding has on geese
• Should Israel no longer produce FG, producers in Europe and other Middle Eastern countries would step in to fulfill the existing demand, thus perpetuating any cruetly.
While Agriculture Ministry Director-General Yossy Ishay’s response to the ruling is little too “slippery slope” to be taken seriously (”If we don’t stop the animal-rights groups, tomorrow you won’t be able to milk cows or keep chickens in coops”), the long-term “animal rights” implications of a complete cessation in FG production could be far worse with Israel out of the picture.
Here’s how I see it (and feel free to argue): geese have a friend in Israel. The government appears to be actively developing safer, friendlier goose-feeding apparatus. Should those efforts bear fruit, Israel stands to become a leader in more humane FG production, and given appropriate publicity, could effect other countries to demand the use of the new, humane technology. A temporary lengthening of the grace period would without a doubt also temporarily lengthen the suffering of geese, but could provide a more comfortable future for our kitchen-bound, feathered friends.
(Interesting tidbit: Israeli Izzy Yanay is considered the world’s foremost authority on using duck for the production of foie gras.)
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Do Animals Have Rights?
Just when you thought Jewish law was on PETA’s side, IsraelInsider’s Steven Plaut steps in to explain a Talmudic dictum that “mistreatment or cruelty towards animals is prohibited ONLY when there is no profit or utility therefrom.” Hunting, testing, eating, wearing… it’s all okay if there’s human benefit. Agree or not, it’s an interesting read.
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Amy’s Kitchen & Ner Tamid K
KBlog reader Alyssa writes in asking if anyone is familiar with the “Ner Tamid K” heksher featured on Amy’s Kitchen products. The Amy’s website has a section in their FAQ explaining that their foods are kosher:
Amy’s Kosher certification is from Rabbi Dov Hazdan of Ner Tamid K in Staten Island, NY. Amy’s became certified in November of 2003.
With one exception, Amy’s products are certified as Kosher Dairy or Kosher Parve as noted in our special diets section. Amy’s Low Sodium Marinara is the only Amy’s Kitchen product that is not certified Kosher due to the presence of non-kosher red wine vinegar.
While shopping for Amy’s products, you may not see the appropriate Kosher symbol on all certified products at this time. As packaging is regularly updated, the appropriate symbol will be added.
A quick google of the “Ner Tamid K” and “Ner Tomid K” yields scant information.
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OU to request changes at AgriProcessors
The New York Times reports that the Orthodox Union will ask AgriProcessors/Rubashkin to change their slaughtering procedures.
Discussion of the shechita controversy is the first topic covered in Nachum Segal’s radio interview of OU Executive VP Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb and President Stephen Savitsky. Rabbi Weinreb’s main points:
** USDA had found nothing objectionable
** OU is studying video carefully
** Scientifically, shechita is a humane process — possibly most humane
** PETA has agenda, would want everyone to be vegetarians; no animals even for pets or as seeing-eye dogs
** Torah says we should not be cruel to animals, permits us to eat meat according to halacha
** PETA’s video done over 7 months; 18,000 animals slaughtered over that period; statistically, anything can happen
** Shechita, or any slaughterhouse, is not pretty
** Problems recorded in video not a problem unique to shechita; when shechita works correctly, it’s humane
** OU responding to public, looking into objections
** OU’s success comes with responsibilities, OU will live up to responsibilities
** OU “not at war” with PETA
The Des Moines Register reports that the USDA is investigating the AgriProcessors facility: they’ve had meetings and no legal actions have been taken.
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Vegetarian Terrorists Attack Kosher Giant
Face it folks, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), like everyone else, has an agenda. They use shock footage to make unassuming folks lose their lunches in the hopes we’ll disavow the consumption of animal products and cast snide stares at the barbarians who insist on eating charred carcasses. And to pursue that agenda, they’ll cross any line: PETA’s recent use of Holocaust imagery to shame the public into forgoing meat was not merely disrespectful; it added whole universes to the word “disrespectful” (to borrow a wording of Andrew Sullivan). In case you missed it last year, PETA displayed their distinctly unethical “Holocaust on Your Plate” exhibit — likening victims of the Shoah to supermarket-destined chickens and cows — not a stone’s-throw away from the New England Holocaust Memorial. According to a Globe editorial at the time, “PETA says it seeks to be a source of conscience regarding the abuse of animals. Yet its arguments and its preposterous exhibit collapse when their members think nothing of inflicting suffering on human beings.” These folks have zero credibility in my eyes.
Right up front, that’s where I stand. So I took PETA’s accusations of “Slaughter Horrors” at Agriprocessors’ Postville, Iowa facility with a large grain of kosher salt. I choose not to give in to horror footage (Iraqi hostages, US Marines in Faluja, or otherwise), so I have not viewed the video itself, but I have read PETA’s description of conditions at the plant, and plenty of news articles. So far, I’ve found the article at the Jerusalem Post to be the most comprehensive.
I have also fully read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, a gripping narrative about fast food and related industries (meat, potatoes, synthetic flavors), a book which I respect and recommend. So, to show a bit of pseudo-journalistic objectivity: I similarly have very little respect for massive meat processors. Their goal is to slaughter and butcher as many animals as physically possible at the absolute least cost.
That said, if PETA’s footage is legitimate, and their accusations are verifiable, I would fully support the five, resonable recommendations outlined in PETA’s surprisingly respectable letter to the Orthodox Union to ameliorate the accused inhumane practices.
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Unfortunately, I’ve learned over my several years of keeping kosher that “kosher” only means “ritually fit” — it does not mean “clean,” and it does not mean “friendly,” and it does not mean “pleasant.” That can probably be said of the rest of halachah, in that one may succeed in strictly following the letter of the Torah, but end up a spiritual failure due to a lack of derech eretz.
Similarly, we must consider kosher slaughter with such terms as derech eretz and hiddur mitzvah (enhancing the commandment). The Agriprocessors folks may insist they’re operating within the letter of the law — in fact, they claim to also be operating within the spirit of the law — but that should not preclude us from continually improving our shechita technology and processes whenever possible, from going beyond the call of moral duty, even if the suggestions come from such a morally-questionable group as PETA.
Kashrut has historically been at the forefront of animal humaneness. Agriprocessors states proudly:
Long before the rest of the world showed any “common decency” to animals or had the slightest concern for the treatment of animals, the laws of the Torah and rabbinic teachings command the Jewish people to treat all living creatures humanely. Secular society — including [PETA] — has still not caught up with the precepts of Jewish law in this regard.
Even with this in mind, we can’t rest on our communal laurels. We must use our law and our history as a guide to further our commitment to humane treatment of animals, to serve as an ever greater example to others in that regard, and to make us the ones who tell PETA how to operate.
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