2. A New Trend; Jerusalem Weddings without Hechsherim
This is perhaps a preamble to what may become my next obsession, but since I am not certain how things will develop, and if time will permit me to probe this in depth as quickly as I would like, or more correctly, as the situation demands, I feel a need to advise readers –to wave a warning flag as it were.
Over the past year, while attending smachot (weddings or bar mitzvahs for example) and in some cases, just crashing [not to eat but to enter the kitchen, posing as a guest, asking a number of questions of the mashgiach], I have learned that in some (many?) cases, frum people, G-d fearing and Sabbath-observant people are eating in halls that simply do not have a hechsher, or the hechsher is a regular one when the guests and host alike believe they are eating food under the supervision of one of the pristine Badatz mehadrin agencies.
Permit me to explain briefly. established halls with steady hechsher, one may get what one seeks, as is the case with Gutnick (Badatz Eida Chareidit), Beit Yisrael (Eida Chareidit), Moshav Ora (Rabbanut mehadrin). The examples given are random, and chosen because the names come to mind, nothing else. These are halls however in which the caterer is exclusive and the affairs are always under the same kosher certifying agency, simplifying matters significantly. The kitchen is constant and the standard is
If one books one of the popular halls,
never permitted to go below the minimum of the certifying agency, so one has a baseline to determine it the hall meets one’s needs.
Anyway, what is also happening in a growing number of cases is one arranges a wedding through one of the agencies promising discounts, especially those serving the chareidi or dati leumi communities, permitting the families to get a bargain. This is fine indeed. We all prefer to save money when and where possible. The example I am about to give is also applicable in many cases when one books a hall directly, bypassing the discounting agencies.
The proud parents check out a hall and decide this is the place. They now begin contacting caterers and it should become evident the hall is not ‘exclusive’, which means various caterers are using the facility,
at times, caterers maintaining regular supervision, while others may have high end supervisions, and some, NO supervision.
One hires caterer “X” who is legitimate, and that caterer maintains a mehadrin supervision from a reputable kosher agency that meets the needs of the family and guests alike. What the host in many cases does not realize is that if I use the caterer but do not hire the kashrut agency, the second the food leaves the kitchen/commissary, there is no longer any supervision on the food that will be served to hundreds of guests. In some cases, food is driven from another city, from a caterer’s commissary, at times with a non-Jewish driver and the boxes are not double or single sealed to maintain the kashrus integrity of that agency, since the agency finished its job when the boxes left the commissary.
No one hired the mashgichim to accompany the food, double seal meats and take whatever steps halacha required to ensure the food leaving the commissary is the only food entering the kitchen of the catering hall.
This does not begin to address the incidents in which something spilled, was spoiled, lacking in quantity, and whatever, and replacements are sought out a the last minute, unsupervised, with hired kitchen hands instructed to run to the supermarket and buy lettuce, vegetables, or who knows what. (I worked in catering so please, don’t tell me it does not happen for it occurs, and I dare say even frequently!)
Remember, the ‘caterer’ you hired in not cooking anything, only reheating and dishing out the food. In actuality, the person might be correctly called the facilitator. Using the word ‘caterer’ is what ads to so much confusion. The ‘caterer’ may be a competent banquet manager but perhaps knows nothing about cooking, not to mention
kashrus. It really is not relevant I guess, because even if he is a master chef, he is still a chef without a hechsher!
In one recent case, I asked what hechsher a prominent Jerusalem hall had, and learned it didn’t, not rabbanut or any agency. This by the way is not a violation of the law unless the hall advertises as "kosher”. When I asked if the mashgiach was in, I was told he is not but “don’t worry, all the food is Badatz” and “we are just reheating here. It was all cooked already”. I asked “are you using the kitchen” and was assured “no of course not. It was not koshered. I am using my heating boxes and trays”.
That would be great if he had a hechsher, but since he does not, and perhaps does not always serve a ‘badatz’ affair, it was of little solace to hear he was not using the kitchen but his own equipment. What Badatz” I asked, told “Eida Chareidis” and even giving me the name of the caterer which is indeed under supervision, in another
city. He then showed me a certificate, which was a photocopy of the caterer’s supervision from the premier agency, but 1) it was a photocopy so it is meaningless, 2) for a different city 3) covering the commissary only. In essence, he assured me that any food cooked in that facility, eaten on site or leaving the premises under supervision is fine, but this case was just not so.
In essence, the food served at this event was without any hechsher from any kashrut certifying agency! It was a real ‘yeshivish’ wedding to say the least, and the rabbis, family and guests were all partaking in food believing it was under a certain supervision, when in actuality, it was a matter of trusting the man reheating and serving the meals, nothing more. I do not believe the roshei yeshiva partaking in the wedding feast were eating based on trusting my facilitator, but they believed the wedding was under the supervision of a prominent agency.
Salads (humos, tehina, red cabbage, vegetables), burekas, rolls, herring, pickles, olives, deli meats and the like were in unmarked plastic tubs, the chickens all without any trace of a schita tag, and ditto for everything else.
When I asked about the greens I was told “don’t worry, it’s all Gush katif) so I asked “What brand Gush Katif” and of course, told again, “don’t worry. Can’t you see I am wearing a kippa”, which he was.
My point, it all may have been fine, but halacha does demand certain precautions regarding transport of food, especially if a non-Jews is at the wheel, without a Jewish accompaniment. Religious Jews in Yerushalayim are regularly attending weddings and bar mitzvahs and they believe the event is supervised when that is not the case. That is the point, simply a matter of fact. If you are okay with this, then ignore the article.
I frequently investigate affairs for callers who receive invitations to assist subscribers, as they wish to know the hechsher of the event, some fearing they do not know what to ask, others uncomfortable in Hebrew.I call and am told the name of a certain agency. In the overwhelming number of cases, the food was prepared by that agency but the agency was not hired to oversee the affair and the supervision ceased when the food left the commissary. Another event without a hechsher!
remind you here too that I did not even address a kitchen in a hall with a regular hechsher when one believes one is have a Badatz such and such an affair. The kitchen is not kashered and there are more than minor concerns to be addressed regarding such an event, one that is attended regularly by many who are simply clueless to what is taking place. More to follow at some point.
For questions or comments please send me an email . I will do my best to respond.Jerusalemkn@gmail.com
40 comments:
hey yudel
everybody in yerushalim has a cheskas kashrus so why do you need a hecsher
http://d3hqdt8j93rgvn.cloudfront.net/Image/MEDIUM_40288081216510fd0121660ce97d0846.jpg
Any idea why the OU is certifying a glaze that is meyuchad for ham and nothing else?
Slick PR move by Empire since acquiring Kosher Valley.
They are putting a sticker on all the packages in loshon kodesh: "Nishchat venivdak al yedai yirei shomoyim"
Does R' Yudel hold of the Wisconsin-K hashgocho?
http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/96703589.html
"I tell people I'm compensating for my 17th-century looks," said Rabbi Benzion Twerski of the Orthodox Congregation Beth Jehudah on Milwaukee's north side, who sports both an iPhone and iPad.
Twerski has apps that let him read the Torah, the Talmud and the Siddur, the book of daily prayers; recite the appropriate blessings for meals depending on the food that's served; and vet the thousands of ingredients in his work inspecting Kosher food factories around the state.
"When I used paper … I could be sitting a long time. Now, it takes me just seconds to look for an ingredient," he said.
http://www.jwire.com.au/news/kosher-butcher-publishes-meat-recall/9920
A Melbourne Kosher butcher has published an ad in Saturday’s Herald Sun alerting consumers to a possible Latex contamination in one of their products.
The company has recalled Premium Beef Mince and Diet Beef Mince stating that it may be contaminated with “natural rubber latex”
The ad states that the latex could cause an allergic reaction if the mince is consumed and has asked customers to return the mince with a receipt in order to effect immediate financial compensation.
J-Wire understands there is no problem with other products from Solomons and that the company is working with authorities on the mince problem.
http://www.solomon.com.au/sol_aboutus.htm
Solomon Kosher Butcher acquired and merged Chedwa Kosher Butcher into the business, Solomon's now produces its Kosher food in Melbourne under the supervision of the Chabad Kashrut Committee, with the Hachgocha of Rabbi C.T. Groner and Rabbi Z. H. Telsner.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2010/06/20/2010-06-20_rabbi_molested_me_too_they_say.html
Shmuel Borger will need more than his Meshichist routine to get people to believe his baloney stories.
I think there is a Philly-Lakewood yungerman named Geretz who is working for Rav Twersky at Wisconsin-K.
"Nishchat venivdak al yedai yirei shomoyim"
Better a short blurb than the gantze megillah we get from Rabbi Spiegel & Super Glatt, as if they are the biggest thing since the malach came to the Beis Yosef.
http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2010/06/chazon-ish-on-fish-worms_20.html
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Chazon Ish on fish worms
http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com/archives5764/VYS64features.htm
The Agudah picked the mashgiach ruchni of Tropper's yeshiva to head their Commission on Kedushas Beis Haknesses.
the article says that the cooridinater of that agudah convention was chaim schwartz when he used to work for the agudah
The Chazon Ish is interesting-he seems to be echoing the two points of view of what minei gavli means. THat is ,the worms or whatever should be okay because they grew in the keilim but on the other hand maybe they are only muttar if they spontaneously generated there. Which translates as R Belsky is right but it could be that the osrim have a point in requiring spontaneous generation. This would mean that any species that we know of it reproducing normally would be ossur no matter where you found it.
R' Belsky's position is go ahead and eat the worms so that people should get sick?
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/le-soleil/actualites/sante/201006/17/01-4290939-pecheurs-prudence-dans-votre-consommation-de-saumon.php
Canadian Press
Quebec
The Department of Natural Resources and Wildlife (MNR) recommends caution to fishermen who consume wild Atlantic salmon.
The authorities explained that the parasitic worm Anisakis simplex, which is present in more than 200 species of fish, including cod, mackerel and herring seems to be increasing in several populations of salmon in the world.
The consumption of wild salmon undercooked and affected by this parasite may be hazardous to human health, resulting in digestive problems or allergies.
The Department therefore recommends to avoid eating fish heavily infested. Before cooking, be sure to remove all visible larvae. It is then necessary to cook the fish properly before eating it, the internal temperature must be at least 63 ° C for 15 seconds.
It is also advisable to consume raw salmon, since it should first have been frozen at a temperature of - 20 ° C for at least seven days, temperature is rarely reached in a home freezer.
Smoking of fish is in turn valid if the internal temperature of fish reaches 63 ° C for at least 15 seconds.
The authorities say they will maintain surveillance over 10 salmon rivers of Quebec.
ou crony......cmon already does that REALLY surprise ANYONE?
Rubashkin's son eggs on a huge crowd in Los Angeles that his father's sentence is "racism".
OU Executive Director Steven Weil joins the chorus since his employer has plenty to cover up for. When addressing Lubav crowds he suddenly calls himself by his Jewish name.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/community/article/la_rally_protests_27-year_sentence_20100622/
“That’s racism at its best…or at its worst,” Meir Rubashkin said.
Rabbi Sholom Weil of Los Angeles, standing next to Meir Rubashkin, agreed that Rubashkin’s sentence makes a statement about negative attitudes toward Jews. “It’s not about Sholom Rubashkin. It’s an attack on Jewish identity, Jewish ideals,” Weil said.
R' Yudel, I heard there is an insect problem with basil and that most of the hashgochos are either unaware or covering up.
Do you know anything about this?
http://www.ajop.com/person/4896274/Morris-Shoulson.htm
How is it that Philly's Rabbi Morris Shoulson is a staff rabbi of Rabbi Buchwald's AJOP kiruv organization?
http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/2465/show_me_the_way_of_the_hebrews:_the_making_of_an_african_american_rabbi_
He pushes for the so called Black "Israelites" to get bris milah.
http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=9426&SectionID=4&SubSectionID=&S=1
And he is osek in giving semicha to people who call themselves "Conservadox" and pro-gay
http://www.adath-israel.org/ShiratAmericarelease.pdf
And to Conservative rabbis (2nd page)
Could he also be the rebbe of Paysach Krohn?
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100623/NEWS05/306239975
OGDENSBURG — Almost $250,000 owed by the bankrupt former owner of a kosher cheese plant has been dismissed as a bad debt
Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority Chairman Frederick J. Carter Jr. voted no.
"I just don't think they should walk away from their responsibilities," he said. "It's taxpayers' money."
City Comptroller Philip A. Cosmo defended the decision to stop trying to collect.
"As to how we decide to write it off, we look at the likelihood of recouping the loan," he said. "This particular entity went out of business and I believe filed bankruptcy. Based on that, it would appear that there is little chance we will get any more out of them.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100622/NEWS05/306229960
An insect blamed for damaging onions, garlic, leeks and related plants has crossed the Canadian border into St. Lawrence County and now poses a threat to growers throughout the state, a county agricultural official said Monday.
"This is not a happy welcome," said Stephen F. VanderMark, a resource educator with St. Lawrence County Cornell Cooperative Extension. "This is a dreaded pest that could become a serious threat to our local growers and large-scale agricultural producers."
Leek moths originated in Europe and arrived in Ontario in 1993. The first confirmed case in the United States was found in Plattsburgh in June 2009.
On Friday, specimens of two caterpillars and one adult moth taken from garlic plants in the village of Canton tested positive at Cornell University's Department of Entomology, Mr. VanderMark said.
The adult moths are speckled brown, white and black and lay their eggs on crops of onions, garlic, leeks, chives and shallots.
"When the eggs hatch, the little caterpillars start eating away the leaves. They chew groove-like tunnels into the leaves," Mr. VanderMark said.
Local growers should look for slender, creamy colored caterpillars — the larvae — that are less than half an inch long when full grown. The larvae burrow into plant leaves, feeding on the inside tissues or the leaf surface.
The chewing results in whitish dead patches or streaks running lengthwise down the leaves, according to information from Cornell Cooperative Extension.
The larva then morphs into a pupa with a net-like structure over a cocoon that's attached to the dying foliage. The leek moths have three generations per year, with the worst damage done by the second generation as it moves down the leaves into the bulb, usually in July and August.
"The cocoon has a diamond shape net-like covering that's rather unique," Mr. VanderMark said.
Growers who suspect their plants have been infested by leek moths should bag samples and call Cornell Cooperative Extension at 379-9192.
Palinka is Hungary’s national alcoholic beverage.
http://blogs.wsj.com/new-europe/2010/06/23/hungary-prepares-to-legalize-home-made-booze/
A strong but tasty traditional Hungarian spirit with alcohol content above 37.5%, palinka is similar to grappa and distilled from almost any kind of fruit or grape pomace.
Can anyone confirm the rumor that Rubashkin's South American shechita aka Tevye's Ranch has ceased operations and gone belly up?
We started making a point of buying raw eggs with hashgocho after a recent NY Times article that briefly mentioned the shells are being sprayed with oil.
The article below indicates that vegetable oil applied to the egg shell may seep inside.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Organic-Eggs-washed-in-Chl-by-Ursula-Siebert-100616-985.html
His article "Why you don't want to buy organic eggs at the grocery store" raises the question what happens after organic eggs have been collected. Some states require that they are cleaned by washing them in a chlorine bath. That isn't exactly what I as an organic customer and ex organic farmer's wife expected to happen to the eggs labeled organic, grocery store or not. In addition, they undergo "a mineral oil coating before they are nestled into their cartons," the article continues. And the eggs are still allowed to carry the organic label.
My research took me to:
Guidelines for Certification of Organic Eggs and Meat Birds
Vermont Organic Farmers (VOF)
Northeast Organic Farming Association. There it says:
"The following egg wash ingredients are allowed for use in organic egg production:
�� Sodium hypochlorite �� Potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide
�� Hydrogen peroxide �� Sodium carbonate
�� Peracetic acid (Peroxyacetic acid)
Other additives/ Egg coatings:
Mineral oil is not listed on the National List Section 205.605 and therefore may not be used to coat eggs after washing.
Organic vegetable oils would be allowed for this purpose.
Why coat eggs in any kind of oil, I wondered? So that they look shiny? Not quite, there is a scientific explanation for it.
The surface of an egg shell is covered with thousands of microscopic holes which makes it quite porous. A natural coating referred to as the 'bloom' helps seal the holes, preventing bacteria from entering. As the egg ages, the bloom is worn away, which allows moisture to slowly escape and air to enter, forming the 'air cell'. Bacteria may also enter, and contamination may result. When eggs are washed to remove germs that may be on the surface the bloom is also removed, so a thin coating of oil is applied to take the place of the bloom. This works in the same way as the bloom, keeping the contents fresh for longer periods. The bloom also provides eggs with a natural luster or shine. Mineral oil not only protects your eggs as a sealant but it also restores the luster, the shine of the egg.
Fiddler , that is inaccurate information there were some issues over there a month or so ago with getting cattle not an issue directly related to yossi rubashkin's tevya's lable, rather a slaughterhouse issue . In fact he has expanded and is now also shecting in mexico
There are sloppy take out food stores that leave eggshell fragments or even large pieces in foods that have eggs as an ingredient.
http://newsfood.com/q/e02b7193/pesce-crudo-e-anisakis-attenzione-alle-infestazioni/
This Italian article mentions that mullet (also known as goatfish) has the highest anisakis rate of any fish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullet_(fish)
It's interesting that mullet is a min tahor as it is a bottom feeder that eats detritus, like catfish.
http://www.oliveoiltimes.com/olive-oil-business/iooc-combats-olive-oil-fraud/3581
By Daniel Williams
Olive Oil Times Contributor | Reporting from Barcelona
Next season, the international olive oil sector, bottling industry and exporting community will all follow a new commercial regulation devised by the International Olive Oil Advisory Council. The rule was approved by the IOOC last November and will implement measures designed specifically to determine the chemical content of various olive oils.
Specifically, these tests look to evaluate the content of methyl and ethyl esters in olive oil by means of gas chromatography (splitting the gasses with a capillary column to determine the oil’s chemical makeup). With this new testing, the IOOC expects to improve the ability to detect fraudulent methods of production, specifically those that mask the smell of inferior oils by various processes of deodorization.
With the implementation of the new rule, gas chromatography tests will be implemented reveal an olive oil’s true content and thereby expose fraudulent producers. The approval of the new rule will directly affect the olive oil sectors of IOOC member countries given that it was this very Council that modified the European Economic Commission’s Rule 2568 in 1992 which previously set industry standards in European olive oil sector.
The IOOC hopes to implement this change before the end of the summer in order to give the industry a much-needed boost for the coming olive oil season. Experts see the implementation of such quality control measures as necessary in order to discourage fraudulent products. Fighting the adulteration of olive oil is an essential pillar in the long-term plan to rescue the international olive oil industry and is part of a greater worldwide campaign to rescue prices that have dropped significantly in recent times.
The International Olive Oil Council at the head of this process is the only olive oil intergovernmental organization in the world and was formed in Madrid in 1959 under the guidance of the United Nations. Its welcome message states that the Council is, “in a unique position as a forum for authoritative discussion on issues of interest to the olive industry”. Member countries make up 98% of the world’s olive oil production and are required to adhere to the standards it enforces.
http://eatdrinkandbe.org/article/index.0607_int_asia_adulteration
A quarter of all foods from Nepal, a country bordering China, are adulterated by shady manufacturers.
International Packaged Ice Association / IPIA
Fifty to 60 percent "of all packaged ice sold in the U.S. and Canada is produced on-premises at supermarkets, gas stations, liquor stores, campgrounds and other retail and wholesale outlets," according to its Website. "These packaged ice producers (non IPIA plants) which are in thousands of locations nationwide producing millions of bags of ice annually neither meet any standards nor are they adequately inspected."
Surprisingly, even though the FDA maintains strict standards for bottled water, it doesn't apply the same regulations to ice.
Look for dirt. Yep, dirt. It can get in there, particularly if the bag is sealed with a drawstring or the ice is manufactured in a small Mom-and-Pop operation with little oversight.
(Water in NYC, Boston & Seattle has copepods)
Any shechitos in Brazil?
http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/OIGBrazilLettter.pdf
Food & Water Watch, a Washington, DC-based consumer group, yesterday called on the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate imported beef products from Brazil that could be adulterated with residues of the veterinary drug Ivermectin.
I think this company has multiple products under Chof K & one industrial product under OU.
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/06/fda-letter-helps-explain-salmon-recall/
A May 10 warning letter to Brooklyn's Service Smoked Fish Corporation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released this week fills in some more details about last November's recall.
Service Smoked Fish last Nov. 19 recalled its Smoked Nova Salmon for possible Listeria contamination. At the time, the company said the recall occurred after FDA sampling that found bacteria in finished product.
Service Smoked Fish ceased production of Smoked Nova Salmon, and no illnesses were associated with the recall.
The newly released warning letter says FDA inspectors were present inside the seafood processing plant from Nov. 5-27, 2009.
They took samples of finished cold smoked nova salmon for laboratory tests, which were positive for Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections.
http://www.thejewishweek.com/editorial_opinion/opinion/jewish_community_still_behind_confronting_abuse
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Asher Lipner
Special To The Jewish Week
Even as I write, the Queens Vaad Harabbanim continues to cover up for one of its own, who was forced off the Rabbinical Council of America years ago for allegedly molesting children
Italco has a lot of kosher products but it's not clear if their fish is kosher.
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/06/three-sea-food-processors-not-up-to-par/
Also released this week was a May 27 warning letter to Denver-based Italco Food Products, Inc. The Colorado seafood processing company was told its "vacuum packaged smoked salmon, smoked trout, and pickled seafood salad in oil are adulterated, in that they have been prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health."
FDA said Italco Food Products "must conduct, or have conducted for you, a hazard analysis for each kind of fish and fishery product that you process to determine whether there are food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur and you must have and implement a written HACCP plan to control any food safety hazards that are reasonably likely to occur, to comply with 21 CFR 123.6(a) and (b).
"However, your firm does not have a HACCP plan for vacuum packaged smoked salmon, smoked trout, and pickled seafood salad in oil to control the hazard of pathogen growth and toxin formation from the growth of Clostridium botulinum."
This Alfred L. Wolff company keeps getting caught but the OU does nothing about it.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fda-seizes-more-than-32000-worth-of-bulk-honey-from-philadelphia-distribution-center-96088359.html
SILVER SPRING, Md., June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At the request of the Food and Drug Administration, federal marshals seized 64 drums of imported bee's honey from a Philadelphia distribution center on June 4 because it contained a potent antibiotic that could lead to serious illness or death.
The seizure occurred at the Delaware Avenue Distribution Center, 700 Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia. The bulk honey was imported by Sweet Works Inc., of Monterey Park, California from Cheng Du Wai Yuan Bee Products Company Limited of Chengdu, China. Subsequently, it was sold to Alfred L. Wolff Inc. of Chicago, which placed it in storage.
The FDA estimates the value of the seized goods to be more than $32,000. U.S. Marshals executed this seizure pursuant to a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The honey is adulterated within the meaning of 21 U.S.C. 342(a)(2)(C) of the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, because it contains an unsafe food additive.
FDA testing of a sample of this product at the storage facility showed that it contained chloramphenicol, which is not approved for use in food, animal feed, or food-producing animals in the United States.
Chloramphenicol is a potent antibiotic drug that is approved only for use in humans with serious infections when other less toxic drugs won't work. People who are sensitive to chloramphenicol can develop a type of bone marrow depression called aplastic anemia, which can be fatal.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2010/04/worms-in-herring-fish.html?showComment=1272419222009#c7147746273277273372
Here is an earlier report of this company's fraudulent practices that the OU chooses to close their eyes to.
http://www.oleantimesherald.com/news/article_e5563a08-e01d-5ed0-8230-e4563109a6d2.html
“Honey laundering” by China is largely responsible for a decline in U.S. honey production, Sen. Charles Schumer charged this week as he called on U.S. agencies to enforce existing import duties on Chinese honey and purity standards.
After the U.S. tariff was imposed on Chinese honey, the Chinese circumvented the tariff by exporting it to other countries before shipping it to this country. “China is bucking the (tariff) law,” he said, adding the U.S. was losing $100 million to $200 million a year in tariffs over the honey imports.
China has also mislabeled its honey as a malt sweetener or syrup to avoid the tariff, the senator said.
“It’s pure criminal behavior. China is acting almost like the mob,” he said.
Besides avoiding the tariff duties, Chinese honey has been known to be contaminated with antibiotics.
Sen. Schumer said the U.S. Customs and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could crack down on the Chinese honey trade if a pure-honey standard were adopted by the FDA.
“It would give federal agents much greater authority to crack down on adulteration, misbranding and fraudulent mislabeling,” he said.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\06\11\story_11-6-2010_pg5_4
During 11 months in fiscal 2009-10, UK confiscated around 56 export consignments of food items and condiments from Pakistan following Italy with 14 consignments, Lithuania with 31 export orders and Greece confiscated 11 number of consignments of food items and condiments.
He said food items having the highest percentage of adulteration include milk products (93 percent), condiments (86 percent), food snacks (47 percent), oil products and pickles (46 percent) and assorted food items including sweetmeat have been found around 34 percent food adulteration.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=244471
It is rare particularly for the poor segment of society in the City to consume unadulterated food as wholesalers/manufacturers mix everything — from brick dust, soap ingredients to textile dyes — with commonly eaten foods to cheat people.
Alum and chalk are sometimes added to bread to whiten it, while for stale flour, ammonium carbonate is added to disguise its sour taste. Mashed potatoes, sawdust and Plaster of Paris are also added to increase the weight of the bread.
Food preservatives havµe a very extensive use, which often constitutes adulteration. Salt is the classic preservative, but is seldom classified as an adulterant. Salicylic, benzoic, and boric acids, and their sodium salts, formaldehyde, ammonium fluoride, sulphurous acid and its salts are among the principal preservatives.
Coal-tar colours are employed a great deal, pickles and canned vegetables are sometimes coloured green with copper salts
In confectionery, dangerous colours, such as chrome yellow, prussian blue, copper and arsenic compounds are employed. Yellow and orange-coloured sweets are to be suspected. Artificial flavouring compounds are employed in the concoction of fruit syrups, especially those used for soda water.
Milk is adulterated with water, and indirectly by removing the cream. The addition of water may introduce disease germs. Cream is adulterated with gelatin, and formaldehyde is employed as a preservative for it. Butter is adulterated to an enormous extent with oleomargarine, a product of beef fat.
Brick dust in chilli powder, coloured chalk powder in turmeric, injectable dyes in watermelon, peas, capsicum, brinjal, papaya seeds in black pepper etc are other acts of adulteration.
The adulterants may in many cases cause health problems. For instance inedible substitutes like talc, chalk powder, clay, cause gastrointestinal damage, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and aggravate existing GI disorders.
Unapproved additives (colours/flavours/preservatives) have serious side effects e.g. lead chromate which causes convulsions, peripheral nerve disease, kidney impairment. Argemone oil causes epidemic dropsy (edema, congestive heart failure) and kesari dal causes lathyrism (a neurological disease).
Improper storage results in fungal contamination (e.g. ergot infestation causing a disease -ergotism); or production of natural toxins (e.g. solanine causing solanine poisoning)
Other adulterants like antibiotics, mineral oil, methanol, non-food grade packaging, metals have grave health impacts ranging from cancer to organ damage.
The adulteration of food products was first seen hundreds of years ago, with Greek botanist Theophrastus (370 - 285 BC) reporting on the use of artificial flavours in the food supply and on the use of adulterants for economic reasons in some items of commerce. Pliny the Elder (23 - 79 AD) detailed adulteration in a variety of food products, including the use of juniper berries in pepper. Ancient physician Galen (131 - 201 AD) also raised concern about food adulteration, including pepper.
http://www.winemag.co.za/article/smell-a-rat-2010-06-17
Cheating in the wine industry – why does it happen?
Author: Joanne Gibson
Published: 17 Jun 10
READERS COMMENTS
I work for in a software company and we supply wineries with software which stops them 'cheating' the system, we product traceibility software which records fruit receival, wine composition & Additions along with stock inventory, each year wineries get audited and winemakers have to produce reports from our system to prove that the wine is 100%, in this case we'd be more than happy to introduce our software products, visit www.vinsight.net for more information.
Justin Hart
If you are going to buy OU eggs, do not buy the brown ones because most of them have blood spots.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/06/25/2010-06-25_settlement_of_5m_for_truck_crash.html
An upstate Hasidic woman won a whopping $5 million legal settlement in a lawsuit over a Sept. 11, 2007, crash with a Brooklyn kosher-meat delivery truck in which she was seriously injured.
Eva Bickel, 50, suffered a brain injury and broken bones when the truck crossed yellow lines on a Monroe, N.Y., road and collided head-on with the livery cab she was in, according to her suit.
"[The driver] definitely wasn't acting very kosher," Bickel's lawyer, Herb Subin, said yesterday.
The married mother of three children underwent four surgeries and spent more than six weeks in a hospital and nursing home.
The case had already gone to trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court when the truck company, Alle Processing Corp., settled on Tuesday.
"This woman needs a lifetime of future care and the pain and suffering was substantial," Subin said.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100625/NEWS05/306259959
A state Supreme Court judge has ordered a kosher food plant owner to pay nearly $167,000 in delinquent utility bills by close of business July 2.
The city of Ogdensburg can shut off water and sewer service to the plant operated by Tubroburg LLC, owned by Menachem and Schneur Bistritzky, on July 6 should the payment not be made, Judge David R. Demarest wrote in a decision released Thursday.
The judge last month signed a temporary injunction preventing the city from turning off services to the plant. Tubroburg claimed in an $11 million lawsuit filed last month that the city has charged it unfairly for services at the plant and hasn't turned over paperwork needed to finalize purchase of the property.
The city threatened in early May to foreclose on the kosher cheese plant if the delinquent utility bills weren't paid. The company has about 50 employees.
The judge ordered Tubroburg to pay $45,989.28 on the outstanding water bill and $120,985.15 on the delinquent sewer bill by close of business July 2.
"Clearly the attempt to thwart the city from getting paid has failed," City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra said Thursday. "While all the matters have not been settled, it's clear the judge wants the payments to come forward."
Tubroburg began operating the plant, which makes "cholov yisroel" grade kosher cheese and milk, in May 2009 after the city agreed to sell the plant for a $125,000 down payment, $12,000 monthly rent for 13 months and a closing payment of up to $900,000.
The contract called for the company to purchase the plant by June 1, but the city hasn't provided abstracts to the business to finalize the sale, the suit alleged.
While the company put its down payment in an escrow account, it subsequently missed deadlines that would have allowed its monthly rent payments to be put toward the $900,000 closing payment, city officials said last month.
"We want this business to be successful, but we can't subsidize the operation," Mr. Sciorra said.
Watertown attorney David P. Antonucci, representing Tubroburg, didn't return a call for comment Thursday.
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