I received the new weekly crops bulletin from the US Department of Agriculture. The oats harvest is slowly starting. The harvest of the spring wheat and barley has not yet started, but is imminent. Here is the first tentative estimate of Chodosh dates. *All the items below are subject to revision:*
1) *Freshly baked items using spring wheat*, including breads, challahs, bagels, rolls, pizza and some cakes and cookies may be Chodosh in the Midwest after the PURCHASE DATE of Aug 8. Elsewhere in the US, this date would be Aug 15. 2) *Packaged foods from spring wheat* may be Chodosh after the PACKING date of Aug 8, or the PURCHASE date of Aug 22. 3) *Noodles and pasta* may be Chodosh after the PACKING date of Aug 15 and the PURCHASE date of Sept 1. 4) *Barley*, such as pearled barley, may be Chodosh after the PACKING date of Aug 8 and PURCHASE date of Aig 22. 5) *Oats*: Last year, according to the O-U all oats used in *cereals* had a Chodosh PACKING date of Sept 1 or later, PURCHASE DATE of Sept 15 or later. Exceptions to this included General Mills cereals such as Cheerios and Quaker oats. We are waiting for an update on this for the forthcoming season from the O-U. Oats used in non-cereal products such as oatmeal cookies, may be Chodosh starting a packing date of Jul 26. 6) *Barley malt* (also listed in the ingredients as “malt”) may be Chodosh as of the *packing* date of *Dec 15*. Package codes should be checked after the *purchase* date of *Jan 15* for *beer* and *Mar 15* for malt in other products. t T
