I am now working on revising my Guide to Mashgichim, directed to
mashgichim working with Yoshon. Can you please send me email about
experiences you have had uncovering unexpected problems in Yoshon
hashgochos.
Everyone understands that when flour is a primary ingredient, if the
flour is from spring wheat, oats, or barley, then the mashgiach must
check to make sure that the flour is Yoshon. What surprises have you
found that are less obvious?
For example, one surprise at the end of last season had to do with wheat
starch. One manufacturer did their best to secure supplies of Yoshon
oatmeal for their oatmeal cookies to allow production of those cookies
beyond the normal cutoff for oats. It was not until near the end of the
season that their mashgiach realized that the wheat starch that is added
to these cookies as a minor ingredient may have been Chodosh as of
August. A similar case involved the nutrients added to flour after the
milling. Those nutrients are added to a base for mixing with the flour.
Normally that base has no question of Chodosh. However, it was
discovered that in the production of "Yoshon" flour from winter wheat,
the nutrients were added to a base that was from wheat and may have been
Chodosh.
If you have such "war stories", please share them with me. I will try to
spread awareness of such problems to other mashgichim. When sending me
you contribution, please identify yourself. I will, of course, keep your
name and other specific details private.
Thank you, and tizku l'mitzvos
Yoseph Herman
Guide to Chodosh
