Notes
2020-8-30 KosherGram PDF PAS YISROEL: The K-COR wishes to remind the Kosher consumer of the accepted custom to be stringent on Pas Yisroel during Aseres Yemei T’shuva. Please be advised that many K-COR certified establishments produce or sell some bread and cake products that are not Pas Yisroel. Please ask the Mashgiach or call the K-COR office for details regarding specific establishments. • The following establishments are totally Pas Yisroel: ZEMAN’S, BAKE STATION, PIZZA STOP, SPREADS BAGELS & CAFÉ, PRIME 10, SOUL CAFÉ RESTAURANT (not catering), KAPLAN CAKES, and YODELS ‘N MORE. At JERUSALEM PIZZA, the pizza and bagels are Pas Yisroel. • In addition, MILANO BAKERY bread and rolls that bear the K-COR symbol are Pas Yisroel (glow-plug method), except for Milano Bread Sticks. • TRADER JOE’S brand of CHOCOLATE BROOKLYN BABKA and HALF MOON COOKIES that bear OU Pareve are Pas Yisroel. (They are no longer Yoshon.) • FOOD FOR LIFE EZEKIEL SPROUTED GRAIN BREADS with the Kof-K symbol are Pas Yisroel. The Pocket Bread, however, is not Pas Yisroel. • LILLY’S BABKA, RUGELACH and other cakes and cookies with an OU from Lilly’s Baking Company / Brooklyn Brands are Pas Yisroel. (The labels no longer need to state Pas Yisroel. They are not Yoshon.) Due to an equipment failure, the following cookies that are normally OK certified as Pas Yisroel, are actually not Pas Yisroel: • TRADER JOE’S Soft Baked Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with a date code of NOV 04 20. • MATT’S COOKIES of the following varieties with date codes between NOV 03 20 – NOV 26 20: Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate Chip, Salted Caramel Walnut, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Cranberry Walnut, S’Mores, and Peanut Butter. HONEY: • Standard honey goes through a filtering process, which removes the non-Kosher bee parts. Even “raw and unfiltered” honey is usually strained, to remove the bee parts. However, some completely unprocessed honeys are neither filtered nor strained. If the label or the manufacturer states that the honey is not strained, or if bee parts are visible, that honey should be avoided or should be strained by the consumer. • “Forest honey”, “Honeydew honey”, and “Beechwood honey” (or honey named after other types of trees such as Pine, Fir, Oak, etc.), generally refer to honey produced by bees that have consumed the non-Kosher excretions of aphids and scale insects left on trees (as opposed to standard honey produced from flower nectar). These are not considered Kosher according to some opinions, and should be avoided. • “Royal Jelly” is a bee product that, unlike regular honey, is an actual secretion of the bee. Some Poskim therefore rule that it is not included in the permitted category of “honey”, and it should be avoided. SEASON SARDINES CERTIFICATION CHANGES: • Brisling Sardines and Sprats – Products of Latvia: These products were previously OU-P certified. Due to Covid-19 related challenges, these products were produced as non-Kosher and the OU has been removed. There may be OU and non-OU product available in the market simultaneously. Carefully check each package for the OU symbol. • Sardines – Product of Morocco: This product was previously OU-P certified (Kosher for Pesach) year round, and Bishul Yisroel. Due to COVID-19 work and travel restrictions, this product will be certified as OU for year round use, but not Kosher for Pesach, and not Bishul Yisroel. (OU policy follows the widespread minhag that sardines do not require Bishul Yisroel.) Prior to Pesach, an additional quantity of OU-P product may be produced. There may be OU and OU-P product available in the market simultaneously. Check each package for its correct status. OVK IN AN OVAL is the new Kashrus symbol of the Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis. The former OV symbol (V in a circle) was replaced, because some non-Kosher products bear that symbol to indicate Vegan or Vegetarian. However, some Vaad Hoeir certified products are still using the old OV symbol. To verify whether or not an OV symbol on a particular product is a Kashrus symbol, contact the Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis at 314-569-2770 or at [email protected] . The OV symbol on some Campbell’s Slow Kettle Style and Well Yes! bisques and soups is used to indicate Vegan or Vegetarian. These are not Kosher products. TOOTSIE DOTS ASSORTED FRUIT FLAVORED GUMDROPS in small Mini Boxes (“Mini-Dots”) do not bear an OU on their individual boxes, but they are nonetheless certified OU and pareve, even if the outer bag of the variety pack bears an OU-D. (The D is due to the other Tootsie candies in the variety pack.) TIC TAC MINTS CANDIES are produced at many plants and in many flavors, and not all are Kosher. Each individual container should be checked for reliable certification (a small OU on the top left of the 1 oz. containers). • Tic Tac Frosty Mint mints bears OU-D on some containers. The D is a mistake; this is pareve. • Tic Tac Gum candies, which look similar to the mints candies and are sold in the same type of dispenser containers, are not Kosher and bear no Kosher marking. GOLDENBERG’S PEANUT CHEWS – ORIGINAL DARK bears OU-D. The OU has advised us that although this product does not list dairy ingredients, it should be considered real dairy and should not be eaten after meat. SPECIALLY SELECTED BELGIAN CHOCOLATE CHUNKS DARK 62% CACAO and SIMPLY NATURE ORGANIC SEA SALT POPCORN, both sold at Aldi, bear OK-D and do not list dairy ingredients, but say “may contain milk”. OK Kosher has advised us that these products are classified as D, not DE, because they may contain milk, and they should not be eaten after meat. CAPE COD AGED WHITE CHEDDAR & SOUR CREAM POTATO CHIPS contains dairy ingredients and is certified OU-D, but mistakenly bears a plain OU without the D. [Source: Kashrut.com] NICE! brand SWEET & SPICY TRAIL MIX sold at Walgreens is certified OU-D and contains dairy, as indicated in the ingredients and allergen statements. Some packages were mistakenly labeled with a plain OU without the D. HUNT’S TOMATO SAUCE: Most Hunt’s Tomato Sauce products in cans are OK certified and bear the OK symbol on their label. Hunts Tomato Sauce in 7.4 oz., 14.8 oz. and 33.5 oz. cartons is not certified and does not bear the OK, and is not acceptable. BIENA AGED WHITE CHEDDAR CHICKPEA PUFFS are not OU certified. Multi-packs containing .6 oz. bags were produced with an unauthorized OU symbol on the outer packaging. The individual bags do not bear the OU symbol. – No varieties of Chickpea Puffs are certified. Only Biena Chickpea Snacks are certified, when bearing the OU or OU-D symbol. – Note that the Sour Cream & Onion variety of Chickpea Snacks is dairy. WILLIAMS SONOMA brand BLACK TRUFFLE RUB, PARMESAN HERB RUB, and PARMESAN, GARLIC AND HERBS MASHED POTATO SEASONING are not OU certified. Some containers bear an unauthorized OU symbol. GUMMY BEARS distributed by DZA BRANDS bear an unauthorized cRc symbol on some packages. This product is not Kosher.