The third and final issue of the Guide to Chodosh for the season is back from the printer. I hope that it will be mailed out by US mail to all printed-copy subscribers by Monday or Tuesday. So most people should get it before the Feb. 15 "expiration date" of the previous issue. Meanwhile:
1) Those who want to get an E mail version of the last issue of the Guide should send an E mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message type (exactly as show here) get Guide.txt 2) Attached below is the front section of the new Guide that contains all of the updates from the previous issue. Those on this E mail distribution list have seen most, but not all of this information before. However, here it is all organized in more coherent fashion. ________________________________________ A SUMMARY OF CHANGES FROM THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF THE GUIDE WARNING: We have been advised that some takeout stores, pizza shops and similar food establishments that fry foods in oil may use the same oil to fry both Chodosh and other food items. For example, egg rolls and other Chodosh pastas may use the same oil as foods that one would not suspect of being Chodosh such as vegetables and fried potatoes. It has been stated that some of these stores advertise Yoshon and go to the effort of producing pizza, for example, from Yoshon flour, not realizing that the oil frying could be a problem. We would appreciate some feedback about how prevalent this problem may be. Please ask your local Yoshon pizza shops, restaurants and takeout places if this situation exists in their stores and let us know via the Hot Line or E mail. WARNING ON CEREALS: Some cereals contain barley (the actual grain, not just the malt). Apparently these include Multi-Grain Cheerios. Check the ingredients for barley. The probable Chodosh packing date for barley is Sept 15. This date should be used if it is the earliest date for all possibly Chodosh ingredients. We have revised the cereal listings for General Mills, Kellogs, Post and Quaker to make such cutoff date determination easier. See Section 3.11. UPDATE ON THE BARLEY SITUATION MARTISCO, UNGER AND BENZY’S BARLEY STILL NOT RECOMMENDED AS YOSHON, DESPITE THE CLAIMS OF MARTISCO We have received a copy of a letter being sent out by Martisco to “prove” that Martisco, Unger and Benzy’s barley (or any other brand that they pack) are Yoshon. The letter states that all this barley comes from Yoshon crop that was sealed by Rabbi Abraham Juravel (of the O-U). It invites all interested parties to check with the owner of the bins that contain this barley or to go to Idaho to verify this information. The fact is that Rabbi Juravel did seal bins of Yoshon barley in Idaho. However, we explained in detail in Preface A-3 of the Guide, barley takes several steps between the storage bins mentioned in Martisco’s letter and your grocery shelf. It is first transported from the bin to a pearling company that removes the outer shell of each barley kernel. This company does pearling of barley from all sources, most of them being Chodosh at this time. This is also done in Idaho. Then the pearled barley is shipped in bulk to Martisco in New York State which packs the barley into individual 1 pound bags. We have explained to the representative of Martisco and Unger that in order to be considered Yoshon when packed throughout the Chodosh season, we need to have reliable mashgichim verify that Yoshon barley that leaves the bins sealed by Rabbi Juravel is the only barley that is contained in the shipments that go East from Idaho and are packed by Martisco. This representative explained to us that they can not afford to pay for the additional hashgocho due to the small profit that can be earned by selling barley. We do not insist that they hire any mashgichim when they can not afford to do so. However, we do feel obligated to inform the Yoshon-observant public, that so far the company has not been able to show how they verify the Yoshon status of this barley in a manner that Orthodox Jews can consider reliable. We have contacted Benzy’s which originally claimed that their barley is Yoshon based on such assurances from Martisco. So far as we know, they understood our objections and are no longer claiming that their barley is Yoshon. The management of Ungers refused to discuss this matter with us and referred the questions back to the representative who does not return our numerous phone calls. GEFFEN BARLEY YOSHON WITH HASHGOCHO (but see comments below) Geffen barley is Yoshon at least up to and including the packing date of Dec 24 (code 24DE02, 1 year after packing). There is hashgocho for the Yoshon status of this barley up to a point. Normally, when we state that a product is under hashgocho for Yoshon, we mean that the mashgiach certifies the Yoshon status up to and including the packing of the individual packages that the consumer buys. The situation with Geffen is much better than barley without hashgocho (such as Goya, Jack Rabbit, etc.) but not as good as a hashgocho that extends through the packing stage. Specifically, as mentioned directly above, Rabbi Juravel of the O-U sealed a bin of unprocessed Yoshon barley grain in Idaho. Geffen sent Rabbi Shimon Peretz of Minneapolis to supervise the shipping of this certified Yoshon barley from the storage to the company that does the pearling (removal of the outer shell) in bulk. He also made sure that the pearling equipment was cleaned out from previous batches before the Yoshon batch was processed. At the point that the pearled barley left this processing plant packed in large containers, the hashgocho stopped. It was shipped to a company that does not have a mashgiach. However, according to Geffen, this company does not pack any other brand of barley except Geffen’s. Therefore, there is no chance of mixing up this barley with any other Chodosh batch. Note that Geffen’s approach is better than Martisco’s arrangement. Martisco also claims that their factory only packs Yoshon barley. However, they have no hashgocho to assure that no mix-up of Yoshon and Chodosh crops occur at the pearling step, or to make sure that the pearling machinery has been cleaned out. It is also better than the unsupervised brands such as Goya, Jack Rabbit, etc. For the latter we have to take the company’s word of when Chodosh starts, whereas Geffen’s source of Yoshon barley is assured by a mashgiach. MALT update. Cleveland Kashrus reported on one source of malt that became Chodosh as of Nov.1. As a result, I rechecked with several malt manufacturers. They confirmed that on special orders it is possible to produce Chodosh malt as early as October. However they do not recommend this to their customers and very rarely do it because, good quality malt requires aging that would almost always make malt Yoshon until Dec. 15 or later. Therefore, we plan to continue our earlier malt date guidelines. Namely, we will continue to assume that all malt is Yoshon up to a packing date of Dec 15 and probably up to Jan 15. OUR APOLOGIES FOR MISUNDERSTANDINGS For the first 28 years of the Guide, we tried to call each Yoshon store and establishment listed in the Guide each year to verify their Yoshon arrangement. Over the years, B”H the numbers of such establishments have grown considerably until we felt that it was beyond our ability to manage so many individual phone calls. (Each such nominal call often wound up being 2-3 calls until the responsible individuals could be contacted.) Therefore, this year we sent out two letters by US mail, one in July and the second in August. In these letters we asked the establishments to verify for us by fax or phone call their Yoshon arrangements. We clearly stated that those places, from which we do not receive a response by the printing deadline of the Guide, would be listed as “Not Recommended due to lack of information.” Many places did not respond to our mailing and were listed in the first issue of the Guide under such heading. We tried to clearly explain in that issue of the Guide that the only reason we can not recommend each such establishment is because the information has not yet been supplied. Unfortunately, many consumers only read the “Not Recommended” part and ignored the remainder of the explanation. We began to receive indignant phone calls from the proprietors of the places where consumers believed that the store claims of being Yoshon were dishonest because the Guide was understood as stating that they were NOT Yoshon. We tried to repair the damage caused as best as we could. (For example, we sent faxes to explain the true situation, with the goal of having the stores post these letters from the Guide, backed up by corrections on the Hot Line and E mail.) We sincerely apologize to anyone who was affected by this misunderstanding. Next year we will try to find a better approach. OTHER ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS TO THE GUIDE This is a summary of the changes that have become known since the printing of the last issue of the Guide. These changes are gathered here and listed in alphabetical order, to permit a quick review by the reader. The reader who is very familiar with the previous edition of the Guide may choose to merely review this list of corrections. However, for the convenience of everyone, each of these corrections has been inserted in the appropriate locations in the Guide below as well. In addition, in the body of the Guide, below, the attention of the reader is called to each item that has been corrected or added in this edition by bold print and a bullet marking next to the changed section. In a few cases where the changes are very lengthy, only a brief mention is made in this summary. Amnon’s Kosher Pizza, 4814 13th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11219 (718-851-1758). All items baked in the retail store are Yoshon after Dec 12 (not before). All frozen pizzas are Yoshon only with Yoshon label. No special hashgocho for Yoshon. · Arrowhead Mills The following items are now from winter wheat only: Wheat bran, wheat germ, regular whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, vital wheat gluten, bulgur, puffed wheat, cracked wheat cereal. Still from spring wheat is puffed kamut. Chodosh date for kamut is Sept 25. The code has changed. The new code is a date that is 1 year after packing for cereals and flour. Arrowhead Mills bits of barley, hull-less barley and barley flour manufacturer’s Chodosh date Aug 1 code 2131 (213=day of year, 1=year). Revised code, Aug 1, 2002 (1 year after packing.) Brooklyn Bagels, 1903 South Taylor Road, Cleveland Heights, OH (216-321-0738). All challehs and bagels are Yoshon. Some pastry products are also Yoshon. Under the hashgocho for Yoshon of Cleveland Kosher. Flour USA high gluten flour sold in New York area groceries in brown paper bags of size 5 and 6 pounds are now Yoshon even without a Yoshon label. Although there is no special hashgocho for Yoshon, they state that they are repackaging high gluten flour of the type used by bakeries that has O-U hashgocho for Yoshon. Miami Beach, Florida update: Kosher World, 514-520 Arthur Godfrey Rd. (41st St), (305) 532-2210. All baked products except Seven and Eight Grain Breads, are Yoshon under the hashgocho of Rabbi M. Spitz. To make sure that Yoshon is still available, ask Avrohom Koot at the store, or Rabbi Spitz Ilana’s Bakery, 5650 Sterling Rd., Hollywood FL, (954) 964-5489. Everything baked on premises is Yoshon, with the exception of puffed pastry and phylo dough. However, the Yoshon flour supply may run out before pesach. To check on the current availability to Yoshon, ask Ilana. Mozart Bakery, Shibolet Bakery, The Wheat Bakery (3 names for the same company), 6636 NW 20th Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL (954)349-1778. This company imports Yoshon frozen dough products that are produced under the hashgocho of the Chug Chasam Sofer in Israel. These products are available in frozen form in groceries. The bakery also sells these in baked form. It also has installed special ovens in several locations in Southern Florida, where these Yoshon dough products can be baked on customer order. BE Kosher sells a range of Yoshon products including Franczoz Yoshon breads. General Mills cereals date on the package for Honey Nut Chex is 310 days after packing, for Multi-Grain Chex, Rice Chex and Fiber1 it is 372 days after packing. Gold Medal flours from factory K. All purpose flour and Better for Bread flours, Chodosh date Sept 13. Kemach updates: WARNING: Kemach Cho-co Munchies cereal contains wheat starch that is probably Chodosh starting with a packing date of Aug 26, code Aug 26, 2002 (1 year after packing). For all Kemach cereals that use malt, the Chodosh packing date for the malt is March 1, 02, the code is 1 year after packing. All 10 pound packages of bow ties, egg barley (a noodle product), fine noodles, and medium noodles, where the code ends with a “Z” have a Chodosh packing date of Nov. 1, code 3051xxZ (305=day of year, 1=year, xx not important.) All crackers and breadsticks are Yoshon, including the malt, to pesach. All Kemach High Gluten flour in 5 pound bags is Yoshon including the malt, to pesach. Regular flour, the wheat flour is Yoshon to pesach, the malt has a Chodosh date of Feb 1 02 (code, Feb. 1 03). Kemach vegetable soup mix, minestrone soup mix, noodle soup mix, onion soup mix, Chodosh date is Dec 5, code 3393 (339=day of year, 3=2001+2 years). Kinneret and Kosherrific fish products are all Yoshon under the hashgocho for Yoshon of Rav Weissmandl. We have no information about other products from these companies. Lakewood Heimshe Bake Shop, 225 2nd St. Lakewood, (732) 905-9057. This bakery has now provided the requested information: All challahs, rolls, cakes, pastries, as well as 2 lb rye breads, white bread, whole wheat bread, club bread are all Yoshon. The kashrus hashgocho does not take responsibility for Yoshon. However, six-grain breads, breads not listed above and bran muffins are NOT Yoshon. Landau whole wheat pasta is Yoshon, since the only packing before pesach occurred in September before Chodosh became a problem. Landau whole-wheat crackers are also Yoshon. There is no special hashgocho for Yoshon. Le Chaim Fruit Bars are Yoshon under the hashgocho for Yoshon of the Mechon L’Harooh of Monsey. The Mechon informed me that their staff was trained by the Badatz of Yerushalaim and will also insist that everything under their kashrus hashgocho must also always be Yoshon. Liebers update: The following are Yoshon under hashgocho of Rav Weissmandl: All cereals, soups are Yoshon up to pesach. All cookies, crackers to pesach, except those containing oats that should be considered Chodosh now. This includes brownies made in Canada. All candies to pesach. All bread crumbs to pesach. Meal Mart takeout store, 4621 13th Ave, Brooklyn, all cooked and baked items are Yoshon INCLUDING the egg rolls. In other stores egg rolls may be a problem (ask). Meisner Take-Home and Catering, 5410 New Utrecht Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11219, (718) 436-5592. The following items are Yoshon, but without a special mashgiach for Yoshon. Cakes, cookies, kugel, cholent, breaded chickens and cutlets, knishes, chalehs. All pasta that is used is also Yoshon. Mendelson’s frozen products are all Yoshon under the hashgocho for Yoshon of the O-U and Rabbi Gruber. This also includes items such as falafel balls. Old City pasta Yoshon at all times, under the hashgocho of Rav Weissmandl. Osem Pasta from Italy and elsewhere, if under the hashgocho for kashrus of the Badatz of Yerushalaim, are always Yoshon. Paskesz Cookies. The Guide contains conflicting statements. In fact, all these cookies under the hashgocho for kashrus of Rav Gruber are Yoshon even without a Yoshon label, except for those containing oats or graham flour. Paskesz Twizzlers and other licorice under the kosher hashgocho of Rav Gruber are also Yoshon. PASTAS: The following pastas: Prince Creamette, Ronzoni, San Giorgio, P&R, Light N’Fluffy, Ideal, American Beauty, Skinner, Mrs. Weiss, Goodman have the Chodosh packing date of Nov, 12. The code is 1 11 12xxx (1=2001, 11=Nov. 12=date, xxx not important. Quaker Toasted Oat Meal and Toasted Oat Bran cereals, the Chodosh date for oats is Aug 21. The code is May 21, 2002 (9 months after packing.) Savion Croutons probable Chodosh date Oct 27, code P3001 (P=not important, 300=day of the year, 1=year.) Setton International licorice is under the hashgocho for Yoshon of Rav Weissmandl. Smackin Good Waffles are Yoshon under the hashgocho for Yoshon of Rav Weissmandl. Swiss Gourmet Italian Cookies are Yoshon with Yoshon label only. No special hashgocho for Yoshon. Taanug Cereals: All Taanug cereals are Yoshon with the exception of those containing oats or malt. The date on the packages is 1 year after packing. The probable Chodosh code for oats in the ingredients is Sept 21, 2002. For malt but no oats, the probable Chodosh code is Jan. 15 2003. There is no special hashgocho for Yoshon. Tradition Soups the Guide correctly lists the date on the package as being 2 years after packing, but gives the incorrect example. The probable Chodosh code should have been, Aug 2003. Unger items such as kishke, cereals, pie and tart shells and Dr. Praeger fish stick may be Chodosh at this time, according to their mashgiach. Willmark makes mixes used by bakeries. The following mixes are Chodosh at this time: donut mix, yeast raised dough. These mixes are available in Yoshon form only to those establishments that reserved Yoshon before the start of the Chodosh season. Cake mixes are always Yoshon. __________________________________________ To send an E mail message to the Guide, please address it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Before you discontinue using an E-mail service, please unsubscribe from this list by sending a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Then if you wish to resume receiving these messages from your new service, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can request several reports by sending an E-mail message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Then in the body of the message type the command: "get" (without the quotes) followed by the name of the file that you want. Type each request on a new line. Make sure that you copy the file name exactly as spelled including capital letters. These reports are now available: get Guidelines.txt This gets a long report on Guidelines to Mashgichim on Chodosh. This has not been updated since last year, but is still substantially valid. Get Guide.txt This gets the full latest Guide to Chodosh, dated 16 Sept 01 get News.txt This gives the latest news bulletin, such as this note. __________________________________________ Project Chodosh is an independent activity, not affiliated with any movement or organization. We thank the Jewish Internet Fund (JIF) for allowing us to use their E mail distribution services. The JIF provides free email and web hosting to Jewish education and outreach organizations. _____________________________________________
