Shmurah Matzah Meal-Is it machine or hand shmurah?

Shmurah Matzah Meal-Is it machine or hand shmurah?

Many consumers were confused. It must say clearly.

Too many kosher certifiers are extremly careful re: "netilas-yuh'daiyim"

"One hand washes the other hand".

Never allow a serious crisis lesson go to waste!

http://kenover.com/GEFEN%20FOOD%20PRODUCTS.pdf

Following is just a sampling;

After last Pesach's Shufra Cocoa (from China w/ no hashgocha, adulterated, no hashgocha by packing either, etc) labeled product of USA. (Certified by Rav Gruber, OK, hisachdus) Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

The recent Gefen sardine fiasco, (crustaceans & anisakis worms in the cans) did not make a recall. (Certified by Volover, OU) Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

Glicks pesach potato chips fiasco (pretzels found in the potato chip bags). Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.(Certified by Rav Glick, Hisachdus & OU)

Cottonseed Oil for Pesach- Produced without a mashgiach, containing Citric acid in a facility that uses chometz, kitnious, etc citric acid. That use whatever the mashgiach tells them to use- There was no mashgiach at all. Certified for Pesach by Hisachdus, OK. Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

Mezonos Maven, allegedly a frum commercial bakery was caught baking on Shabbos on a steady basis. Certified by Hishachdus and the OK.Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

Hisachdus was caught playing around with the "Yoshon" status and misleading the Yeshiva-leit & the Tzibur hacha'rai'dee.Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

How many times was there a catastrophe with pesach vinegar? at least 2-3 times, certified for pesach by the OK.Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

Pesach hand matzos baked in Romania under a Heimish B. Teitelbaum hashgocha, with shiksas being the workers. 1 of the 2 Mashgichim arrived only 10 days after the production was in full swing.Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

Many bakeries in the NY Metro area are using the same bakery ovens for parve & dairy, certified by Hisachdus.Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

Hisachdus certifies very many bakeries in the NY Metro area, so they they are able to strong-arm companies & distributors to use them as the certifier.Should you continue using their products even during the year? We don't think so.

A Heimish Hashgocha was doing a pesach production, the National certifiers mashgiach notices they are using non certified shortening. The Heimish Hashgocha when confronted "mish nisht in mein gesheft, you shouldn't be overseeing our Heimish production".

Numerous Heimish Hashgochas don't respond to consumer questions nor to Rabonim. It may very well be that they are not being paid directly by the consumer, but the moment the consumer looses confidence in the kosher certifier, there goes his hashgocha fees.
 
Should the National or any co-certifier rubber-stamp the product because there is a Heimish (trained?) mashgiach (if he ever arrived)?  Definitely not.

Are both Chug Hashgochas good?

For an American in the USA, it beats most of your other Heimish hashgochas. in Israel there are better ones. How about Rav Charlop on Osem? same answer.

Beef weights decline- kosher slaughter affected

U.S. beef slaughter weights declining since December-Greg Henderson, Editor, Associate Publisher

Updated: April 22, 2011

Higher cattle prices and increasing costs for feeding cattle is helping send cattle to market at lighter weights, and, in some cases, the decrease is dramatic.

Gebakehn nuch Pesach {baked after Pesach] is on the shelves already

Consumers beware: After Pesach they'll say oy, we printed the wrong year or we are using up some of last years labels. Bottom line, who controls the labels, etc

Kashrus hotline-1-212-990-7238

“Don’t confuse me with the facts; my mind is already made up!” Is this you?,

if not, call -
1-212-990-7238

If you can't find an Israeli or OU-, Kof-K "P", then use the following

PESACH 5771 RECOMENDED LIST (for sefardim with * )Recomended PESACH PRODUCTS- Must say kosher for Passover or OU-P
UPDATE: OU-"P", Kof-k "P" without any other certification.
http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/passover

ASPIRIN-Wallgreens only w/ bar codes 311917037424/ 311917037417

ALUMINUM FOIL- All year Hashgocha-Any

*Baby formula- MATERNA from Israel (separate keilim)Not available in USA-J&J

Baking powder-Mishpacha, Bakers Choice, Gefen, OU-P

Borsht- Gefen

Cake Cookies-Schick’s, oberlander, Bake master

CANDIES- Bdatz Yerusalem, Rabbi Illowitz, Brazil,

CHEESE, CREAM, BUTTER- J & J, Mehadrin,Haolam, Norman’s

Chocolate, Chocolate chips-Mishpacha, Bakers Choice

COCOA Powder Hersheys, cocoa mix-Mishpacha -Don't use SHUFRA-cocoa Powder

COFFEE INSTANT- Tasters choice unflavored, Geffen, any OU-P

COFFEE WHITENER- Eden

CONFECTIONary SUGAR- Mishpacha, Gefen , Glick

CRANBERRY JUICE COCKTAIL & sauce-Mishpacha, Gefen, Kedem

CROCK POT LINERS- Geula, Fantastic, reynolds

FISH- King of the Sea, Dagim Gefilte only, Meal Mart, Fishy Neiman, Freunds, A&B, Royal

FLAVOR EXTRACT- Bakers Choice, Gefen

FRENCH FRIES- Eden

FROZEN VEGETABLES- Brocolli, Spinach, Cauliflower-NONE

Frozen strawberries- with hashgocha & must be pureed.

FRUIT CANNED-Mishpacha, Gefen , Glick

Garlic Frozen- Gefen, OU-P

GRAPE JUICE- Mishpacha, Gefen, Kedem,

GROCERY ITEMS- Mishpacha,Masbia, Hadar, Meal Mart, Glick, Gefen,

Gold’s products with OU-P- HONEY- Mishpacha, Brodt, Gefen, Glick

Horse Radish- Flaum, Tuv Taam

Hotel for Pesach- Greenwald's Long island (Rav Szmerla), Tower 41 Florida

ICE CREAM- Mehadrin, Kleins

JUICE- Golden Flow, Mishpacha, New Square, Lakewood farms, Natures own (if made in Bayonne, NJ) Kedem

KETCHUP- Mishpacha, gefen, Glick

KUGELS- Meal Mart

LEBEN, YOGURT- Mehadrin, J&J, J&J strawberry is from liquid

LIQUOR-Slivovitz, Tam Pree, Carmel

MATZOS-HAND only- Pupa-Tzeleim-prefered, Matzos Binyomin-hand only, MACHINE MATZOS- None

MACAROONS- Oberlanders, Gefen

MARGARINE-Eden, J&J, Mehadrin, Mothers, Haolam ,"Stick-Not Tubs"

Marshmallows-NONE

MAYONAISE- Mishpacha, Gefen,Glick

MEAT- Fishels, Solomons. Alle North America, Tevas, Continental (Canada), Rockland Kosher, Satmar butchers BP, Fltbs, Willy, Continental butcher Monsey, Kosher Village,.

NO- Tevya's, Lamm's, Alle S. America, Agri Star (Rav Meisels)

MILK-Golden Flow, Pride of the farm (all milked before pesach), New Square,

NUTS-Bakers choice, Klein’s, OU-P

OIL-Cotton-seed, Roberts, Pereg, Manischewitz, Mishpacha, Masbia, Hadar, Glick, Gefen, Nut-Ola

OIL-HAZELNUT- Taamon w/ aidah, Gefen, lieber

OLIVE OIL-GEFEN Pesach-(made a production with hahgocha from press through bottling) Aida

PARCHMENT PAPER-Geula

POULTRY- Pella, Mehadrin, Skver, Kiryas Joel, Vineland,

PICKLES- Flaum, Tuv Taam

POTATO CHIPS- Blooms NOT Bloomys, schwartz

POTATO STARCH- Mishpacha, E&S, Gefen, OU-P

POTATOES-INSTANT/MASHED- Mishpacha, dependable, OU-P

PRALINE PASTE- Bakers choice

*RICE-For sfardim that use rice- LUNDBERGS

ROASTING BAGS- Geula, Reynolds

ROMAINE LETTUCE- positive- All others require washing & checking No Romaine whole heads, No Romaine Hearts

Sardines-None

Spices- Pereg , Mishpacha, Masbia, R&L, Hadar, Glick.

SUGAR-White granulated USA W/ Pesach e.g. Domino

SALT non-iodized-W/ Pesach

SELTZER-UNFLAVORED-with a pesach hashgacha

SELTZER FLAVORED-OU-P, Vintage all flavors “P”

SOAP PADS- Mishpacha, Geulah, Gefen, Rokeach, OU-P

SODA- American dry, Be’er Mayim, Caffeine free Coca Cola, Classic Cola,  Mayim Chaim, Mae Tovim, Pepsi W Bdatz, Seagrams, Sprite ALL W/ PESACH HASHGOCHA

TEA INSTANT-Swee-Touch-Nee, Wisottzky, Nestea, LIPTON

TEA BAGS-Lipton, Pathmark, Shoprite, wisotzky, Gefen

TOMATO PRODUCTS-Mishpacha, Gefen-TOOTHPASTE Personal items- Zohar, Adwe

TOPPING-Eden, Mishpacha-VANILA SUGAR-Mishpacha, Bakers Choice, Gefen-VEGETABLES CANNED- Mishpacha, Gefen

Vinegar Balsamic- KEDEM Not Bartenura-VINEGAR- Mishpacha, Kedem

WINE-Carmel, NYS Kedem w/ Tzelem, Carmel wines, Bdatz Yeruslm Hashgocha wines, Yaain Hameshbuch Rav Wagshal, Rabbi zegbachs.

Carmel wine is free from "wheat paste"-Kedem's Barron Herzog Barrels may contain Chometz Wheat paste?

Carmel wines do not contain "wheat paste" in their wine barrels.

Kedem, Baron Herzog, Etc  barrels have "Wheat -paste" which is chometz. It is used to seal the top & bottom parts of the barrels. The wheat paste is visible in the barrel and it comes in direct contact with the wine. Carmel  always has a mashgiach by barrell production to make sure they don't use the Chometz paste. Note: The Tzelemer certified wines do not use any barrels.

TEVA MEAT available on line from COSTCO (Rav Miller, shlita)

Glatt Kosher All Natural USDA Choice Angus Beef Variety Pack

Assorted All-Natural Steaks and Roasts-Net Weight: 35.5 Lbs.

Item # 566902-   $399.99 Shipping & Handling included

The estimated delivery time will be approximately 5 business days from the time of order.

Salomella Prompts Spinach Recall

Salomella Prompts Spinach Recall-April 12, 2011
(FDA)-- Fresh Express is voluntarily recalling 2,939 cases of 9 oz. Bag Spinach with Product Codes starting with H081 and H082, UPC Code of 7127913204 and Use-by Dates of April 6 and 7 out of an abundance of caution due to a positive test result for Salmonella from random sample testing.

J & J "cholov yisroel" baby formula contains no chometz, contains kitnious use seperate keilim

Marshmallows with fish gelatin

Marshmallows with fish gelatin or any other Gelatin is not reccomended. Only the ones with carrageenen, agar agar, etc.

Strawberry Yogurts, Leben, Jams, etc

Strawberries are known to be an infested fruit unable to clean properly, unless peeled. The strawbery may be used after cutting off the green tops, cleaning in a soapy solution "and pureeing or peeling" the entire berry.

The J & J Yogurts all year including Pesach use a "liquified strawberry" so it can be used.

Pre-checked from Israel, all must be washed with soap & checked

Some of the Kedem's "Kenover" brand names.

Some of the Kedem's "Kenover" brand names.

Glicks, Shufrah, Manhatan chocolate, Gefen, Em Zee, Shibolim, Savion, L'ichaim, Kedem, Graciela, Bartenurah, Rashi, Herzog, Tam Pri, Kesser, Lipton Soups, La Jolla farms. Many of these brands are also used for their Pesach products.
Remember the Gefen infested sardines "no recall"?
Remember the Glicks "pesach" potato chips with pretzels?
Remember the Shufrah Pesach Cocoa scandall?
Remember the Hisachdus pesach oil with questionable "citric acid"?
Kenover (Kedem) is the parent company of Gefen, Shufrah, Glicks.

Warning Regarding Leafy Greens- JKN Alerts

{Is this in the USA also?}

Warning Regarding Leafy Greens-3 Nissan 5771-April 7, 2011

Tzfat Chief Sephardi Rabbi, Shmuel Eliyahu, warns consumers regarding many of the so-called insect free leafy greens available in the marketplace today, for in reality, too many are giving shoppers free insects instead of living up to their claim. Rabbi Eliyahu is not just a rabbi in the know, but he also heads the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s vaad (committee) responsible for monitoring the so-called Gush Katif greens.

Pesach-SHUFRAH Cocoa powder "Consumer fraud"?

 
http://books.google.com/books?id=ZBpFAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA939&lpg=RA1-PA939&dq=food+adulterants+%22cocoa%22&source=bl&ots=QD3LRik5SX&sig=6v-9Z89PvQw1RnGhG0VtrA2o_K0&hl=en&ei=eRe0S5ixNIL68Aa5w_BY&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=food%20adulterants%20%22cocoa%22&f=false

We discovered the problem with the SHUFRAH Pesach Cocoa powder a few weeks ago. When we noticed the cocoa powder on the shelves we called the OK to alert them to "some" of the issues. They said they will look into it & call me back. They never called back, & didn't return my calls. They were too busy trying to figure out, "what does shain know?, how does he know?, how much damage?, etc

Non (kosher) supervised-Cheap, Chinese cocoa powder? "PRODUCT OF CHINA"?WHY DOESN"T IT SAY on the box ?

From a comment: the truth about pre-checked fruits & Vegies.

ITS VERY VERY INTERESTING THERE IS A MULTI MULTI MILLION DOLLAR OPERTUNITY, AND NOBODY IS TAKING IT.

THERE IS A HUGE HUGE DEMAND FOR KOSHER FRESH STRAWBERRIES, KOSHER FRESH SPINACH, KOSHER FRESH BROCOLLI,AND KOSHER FRESH CAULIFLOWER .

WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO SHIP WHOLE ROMAIN HEADS OF LETTUCE AND ALL KINDS OF OTHER FRESH PRODUCE FROM ACROSS THE WORLD AND WE HAVE MANY COMPANIES SELLING KOSHER FROZEN STRAWBERRIES, KOSHER FROZEN SPINACH, KOSHER FROZEN BROCOLLI,AND KOSHER FROZEN CAULIFLOWER.

 SO THE QUESTION IS IF THERE IS SUCH A HUGE DEMAND FOR FRESH STRAWBERRIES, SPINACH, BROCOLLI,AND CAULIFLOWER, AND THERE IS THE ABILITY TO SEND ANY TYPE OF PRODUCE FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, THEN, IF THIS IS THE CASE THEN WHY ISNT ANYONE USING THE SAME SOURCES BEING USED FOR THE KOSHER FROZEN STRAWBERRIES, SPINACH, BROCOLLI,AND CAULIFLOWER, AND USE THOSE SAME SOURCES TO SELL FRESH STRAWBERRIES, SPINACH, BROCOLLI, AND CAULIFLOWER

WHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FROZEN AND FRESH ?

Because the Business is built on the cold fact "the consumer can't check the frozen-so he will not catch us fooling them". Just wath them come out with FRESH Romain heads or hearts.

SWEET'N LOW- contains non-kosher wine?

Sweet & Low contains "cream of tarter" derived from grape-juice extracted via a centrifuge process. The source of the grape-juice is "ANY SOURCE".

OU, Kof-K "P", Pesach productions

ALERT: Warning: It seems that by the Heimish hashgochas, the OU, Kof-K, OK, etc are "rubberstamping" the heimish ones without so much as even receiving a copy of the mashgiach's report (if there was a mashgiach?) Update: The Kof-k has communicated to us that they do have either their mashgiach present or they receive reports of every production done with a Heimish Hashgocha.

The OU & the Kof-K Pesach productions (designated by the letter"P") has hashgocha temidis.

There are certain items that are are kosher for Pesach all year e.g. Hershey's cocoa powder those don't have Hashgocha Temidis.

There are certain items that don't require a mashgiach temidi even for pesach as the manufacturer & the process wouldn't require it.
Many have decided to use for Pesach items with Hashgocha temidis, even when it's not the Heimish brands. Price was not the only reason.