Kosher, Kashrus and Hechsherim Master thread

[PlatinumGuy]

this is cookies, candy and other such things. way downhill
fish needs to have simanim according to every shita I know of

I think color is definitive for Salmon. Candy is a major gelatin issue

[thaber]

I think color is definitive for Salmon. Candy is a major gelatin issue

Yup

[yelped]

Packaged raw fish from your supermarket? Knife might be used for other seafood.

That is not necessarily an issue.

[EliJelly]

That is not necessarily an issue.

Why not? Might require גרידה.

[EliJelly]

And from the OU website:

https://www.ou.org/news/ask_ou_kosher_may_2011_nothing_fishy_about_ou_fish_standards/

Q: I heard that some people bring a knife from home to the fish store, because the one they use in the store might have residue from non-kosher fish on it. Is this true, and what should I do if I don’t have a knife to bring?

A: Yes, there is a concern that the non-certified store uses their knives on non-kosher fish (even when they claim to have a “kosher” knife only used on kosher fish). You can bring a knife from home to avoid this concern, but there is another option: you could have the store wash their knife and check to make sure it is truly clean (and not just “sort of rinsed”). The board the fish is cut on must be properly washed as well, or covered with craft paper, to protect the kosher order from getting compromised by residue left on the board from a previous, non-kosher, order.

[aygart]

I stumbled across learn.oheltorah.com where apparently people post products and others answer yes or no. From a cursory glance most answers are yes, and they are basing it off of the ingredients, unless they have a secret method of determining kashrus that is not being publicized.
This is all supposedly talmidim of Rabbi Abadi, and Ralph Lasry runs the show. Ralph Lasry also runs kosherstarbucks.com.
Even an educated food scientist paskening based on an ingredient panel doesn't meet my personal standards, which means that I need to fully discount kosherstarbucks.com.
Am I reaching the correct conclusion? any of the lakewood folk like @aygart have any insight?

The first item to understand is that they will be going with the psakim of Rav Abadi who is well known for some controversial psakim that are not accepted by the vast majority of rabbonim. A very significant amount of care needs to be taken to ensure that you are not relying on psakim to a standard different than yours. There is a good chance that many of the ingredients they approve are based on such psakim. revieing the site quickly led me to some items with ingredients that hechsherim consider to be sensitive that they approve based on the ingredient panel.

[yelped]

The first item to understand is that they will be going with the psakim of Rav Abadi who is well known for some controversial psakim that are not accepted by the vast majority of rabbonim. A very significant amount of care needs to be taken to ensure that you are not relying on psakim to a standard different than yours. There is a good chance that many of the ingredients they approve are based on such psakim. revieing the site quickly led me to some items with ingredients that hechsherim consider to be sensitive that they approve based on the ingredient panel.

+1. I believe one of Rav Abadi's sons is very involved in the site.

[Euclid]

+1. I believe one of Rav Abadi's sons is very involved in the site.

Isn't Ralph Lasry R Abadi's grandson?

Or maybe his uncle is R Abadi son?

Somehow I think there's a relation there.

[TheAsh]

What is the situation with dunkin donuts in manhattan under "national kosher supervision" is it reliable?

Rabbi Mehlman is reliable, but maikel. Call him up and ask him what you could eat.

[TheAsh]

Maor Hakashrut, does anyone have more information? Anyone with contacts in the OU? Its all over Israel.
http://kosher-maor.com/

[JlmBoi]

Maor Hakashrut, does anyone have more information? Anyone with contacts in the OU? Its all over Israel.
http://kosher-maor.com/

It's Rav Levinger with nicer branding AFAIK

Sent from my BE2013 using Tapatalk

[TheAsh]

It's Rav Levinger with nicer branding AFAIK

Sent from my BE2013 using Tapatalk

And is he reliable?

[JlmBoi]

And is he reliable?

AYLOR

Sent from my BE2013 using Tapatalk

[Lurker]

https://anash.org/rabbi-levys-take-on-pesach-lists/

[yelped]

https://anash.org/rabbi-levys-take-on-pesach-lists/

חבל על דאבדין ולא משתכחין.

[AsherO]

https://anash.org/rabbi-levys-take-on-pesach-lists/

To me this is the most disconcerting point of the article:

A very popular “Pesach List” produced in the New York area has, for years, printed erroneous information about a certain drink that is certified by the OK. Each year, this list claims that the product is only kitniyos, and can therefore be used in certain situations on Pesach, when, in fact, the product is chometzdik! Attempts to contact the compiler have been ignored, and each year this horrifyingly incorrect information is reprinted. Clearly, a G-d fearing Jew cannot rely on these lists of medications and other products that are supposedly acceptable for Passover.

Would be great to see a response from the publisher of said list, sounds like there’s another side to the story...

[yfr bachur]

I think color is definitive for Salmon.

I believe that I heard from R' Kuber that this is basically urban legend.

[ExGingi]

I believe that I heard from R' Kuber that this is basically urban legend.

This color "siman" of Salmon has been discussed here at length, to the extent that I was convinced about it. While many won't use it due to minhag (myself included), it is a unique feature of salmon (with only a certain swordfish possibly coming close - but distinctly of a different size, and not an economical replacement).

[aygart]

I believe that I heard from R' Kuber that this is basically urban legend.

Rav Belsky was a firm believer

[ExGingi]

Rav Belsky was a firm believer

Source?

I am aware that Rav Belsky a"h was opposed to the OU practice of not having a mashgiach temidi for other kinds of fish, but do you have a source saying that he didn't accept the color as a סימן מובהק for salmon?

As far as I was able to ascertain, the only non-kosher fish that might have a similar color would be swordfish, which isn't farmed and is much larger than salmon. There would be absolutely no economic incentive or reason (or supply) to replace salmon with swordfish.

A highly regarded kashrus expert told me that he has a mashgiach temidi at a plant that makes only lox, despite the fact that he believes that even without a mashgiach temidi there is no חשש.