The OU could make every factory in the USA Chalav Yisrael to Israeli standards if they would just add video cameras. But they won't .
I disappear for a few hours and can't catch up....
On this comment specifically, I disagree simply based on how dairies operate. They're collecting milk from dozens, if not hundreds of farmers , most of whom the hashgacha has absolutely no relationship with.
Re: all the Bishul akum discussion, I'll post marry memos shortly.
Re: the maple syrup, I've down some pretty extensive research and visited over almost 2 dozen sugar houses (mostly in VT, NY and MA). The defoamer is always batul. It's not essential to the actual product but rather to prevent an enormous mess and make production impossible therefore it would be hard to argue that it's maamid. Regarding BY for maple syrup, the raw sap is fully edible but doesn't taste nearly as good. The cooking process is simply removing water to condense.yhe sugar. Not saying that's a reason to say it's nechal chai but possibly a sevara.
Although I haven't seen this issue, friends have told me that the bottling is a bigger issue
The season is only a few weeks (above freezing days and below freezing nights- although there are some new process to increase production without those constraints) therefore a smaller maple bottler (most sugar houses contract out for bottling or simply sell their sugar to large conglomerates) will be looking to utilize his hot bottling equipment for other projects during the off season.