חברה קדישא חייבים לטפל שיהיה להם מוהל מומחה לתקן אותם שלא נימולו כדין ע"י מוהלים שאינם מומחים-choose your mohel very carefully

 חברה קדישא חייבים לטפל שיהיה להם מוהל מומחה לתקן אותם שלא נימולו כדין ע"י מוהלים שאינם מומחים

כגון שועי קראהן ממונסי ופסח קראהן וקצנשטיין (שניהם) אומרים שיש להם איזה מסורה. הבן של ר' חניניא קהן אומר שלא דובים ולא יער-אין מסורה על אילו בריתים

אבל אותם שביטלו מציצה בכלל (כגון זיממרמאן מבית התלמוד) החברה 

קדישא לא יכול לתקן

מעוות לא יכול לתקן

Kashrus Alert- Creatine vitamin and Krill oil are not kosher

Kashrus Alert- Creatine vitamin and Krill oil are not kosher-

It's being distributed in Lakewood by individuals that don't realize its non-kosher status

Pre-Bankruptcy "scheme".

An individual (for the time being shall remain nameless) raised funds from investors living in Monsey and other Jewish areas for a great business " EXPENSIVE LUGGAGE".

The Luggage business fell on hard times (we don't know if it was by design) and they were planning a chapter 7 Bankruptcy and  all of the investors would lose everything, lock stock n barrel.

There was quite an inventory of "luggage" in the warehouse. Unbeknown to the investors, the luggage was trucked off to mishpucha in Lakewood to sell off over a period of time. The Mishpucha also gave him an office upstairs on James St NPGS.

Now he declared "ich bin bankrut" and nothing is in the warehouse, all empty and he filed bankruptcy, and the investors lost all of their money.

You may still be able to pick up some luggage at NPGS facilities.

To which Bais Din will he go? of course only Lakewood, because no one in most lakewood bais din will challenge the slick operator. Zeev doesn't go to bais-din-period.

Update: "Explosive-report" Mikvah filter and it's ramifications-Most Lakewood mikvahs have it R"L

A few years back a so called "Mikvah-filter" was made by a few well meaning individuals. The filter would remain in the water filtering on a constant basis. No chlorine would be needed, the water will always be clean, etc.

What are the Halachic and "mesorah" ramifications of such a filter?

The creators of the filter made an appointment with the revered Rav Moshe Neuschloss, Z"L residing then and being the Rav in New Square, NY. When they appeared at the door of Rav Neuschloss for the appointment, Rav Neuschloss took his cane and "chased them out" of his home. Rav Neuschlos's son in law (Rav Shia Leifer) was there in the house at the time. When Rav Neuschloss was asked for an explanation by the one that arranged the appointment , Rav Neuschloss responded that he wanted them to respond to all that ask "what did Rav Neuschloss say about the filter?, He chased us out with a stick".

Rav Moshe Neuschlos's Z"L psak re: Mikvahs with these filters; was always ביום חול, לא להשתמש בכלל, בשוי"ט, אם יש כבר ילדים אז לדחות הטבילה ואם אין עוד ילדים לילך למקום אחר לשבת שיש בהסביבה מקוה בלי הפילטר.

 Harav Moshe Shternbuch, Shlita-גאב"ד עדה חרדית ירושל-ם is also of the opinion not to use a Mikvah that has that type of filter. Rav Moshe Shternbuch, Shlita instructed his nephew (a Prominent Rav in Lakewood) to instruct his congregants and all others not to use such a mikvah and to re-toivel in a kosher mikvah.  As far as we were able to determine, the nephew of Rav Shternbuch (A Rav in Lakewood) never notified his congregants or others of the psak of Rav Shternbuch.

Rav Sternbuch holds parts of it is a kli.
Everyone holds that the slightest modification will make it possul. The signing of the document not to modify does not help. Many have modified and passeled it R"L

Bais Din must have an Appeal process in place.

Every Bais Din must have an Appeal process in place.

The one bais din that does have an appeal process is the Rabbanut in Eretz Yisroel. 

The mere fact that many feel that they have gotten burned by a Bais-Din with no recourse, they opted to utilize the secular Courts. Others have opted to utilize the Rabanut's Bai Din.

ALERT: Re: ANDY BOY Romaine "Hearts" infested

Alert:
 INFESTATION -

all ANDY BOY 

Romaine Hearts  

Kashrus Alert- Sprinkles ice cream products

Sprinkles ice cream products use fresh / frozen fruit "bi'chezkas toloi'yim", therefore don't use their products that contain fruit in any shape or form.

Kshrus Alert: Let's YO! Yogurt

Let's YO! Yogurt 

has all of the infested fruit that you may not consume.

In many recent shiurim in a Monsey Kolel

" The Kolel in Monsey was "machshil" klal yisroel 

by bringing in unqualified individuals to spew their venom re: infestation.

Both of the speakers are polished orators & can talk about insects but know nothing about the choimer hu'issur nor do the know the facts or the halachas. They'll quote chazal, Ramchal, chofetz chaim, etc but insects? gur'nisht.

They proclaimed "there is no problem with insects".

As Chazal say, " we can create 150 reasons to permit the sheretz".

Just because someone has few dollars to support a Kolel, does that give him the right to be mach'shil klal yisroel? R"L- 
A real Shandah to the Kolel.

Kashrus: Reb Shnuer, Z"L, V. BMG's kashrus today

Insects were found in some cake baked in the Yeshivas kitchen was discovered.
The cook at the time was an עם הארץ לחומרא כפול שמנה. The cook told Reb Shnuer that "in der heim" he worked for the health department and he is assuring Reb Shnuer & Reb Noson, "L that the insects will not affect the health of any of the talmidim.

Reb Shnuer and Reb Noson sent him packing right then and there.

Lakewood shtut today?

BMG hut avek ge'shtelt an exclusive BMG's kashrus Orgini'zatzia that has no factual issues with anything pertaining to kashrus. Note: we are addressing "factual" not "theory".

Complete disregard for;
Infestation,
Bosur she'nisalem,
No hashgocha,
No Mashgichim,
Mashgichim- she'bab'nicks, not shomer shabbos, etc.
Goiyim working at night with no frum supervision,
Chilul Shabbos,
Allowing to use utensils that are Ossur,
Allowing Goiyim to have rolls of kashrus tape in their cars, trucks, etc
They allow to use non-kosher warm boxes without kashering.
Allow to use the non-kosher counters, tables, sinks, etc all without kashering.
Etc. This is the shortened list.

The OU, Star-K, OK, Kof-K etc does not allow such a הפקירות!

For BMG's shtut kashrus? מותר לך, מותר לך, מותר לך
All for control, power, money, etc ר"ל

Commercially Cleaned "iceberg" Lettuce must Still be Checked!

Commercially Cleaned "iceberg" Lettuce must Still be Checked! [partially corrected version]

Kosher Agencies say "Yes" All year.

Chicago – The kashrus world is unanimous in requiring lettuce to be checked for insects. Agencies mistakenly  accepted the notion that pre-washed (bagged) iceberg lettuce is acceptable from any source, even if it is not certified as kosher.  This is because the method of commercially cleaning leafy lettuces is not sufficient to remove the insects typically found in iceberg lettuce.

However, in recent weeks, says the cRc, lettuce coming from specific regions in California have been more heavily infested than usual, and that the cleaning methods in use have not always been successful in removing all insects from the lettuce.

This has caused some kashrus agencies to temporarily remove certification from a number of brands of iceberg lettuce, of which the Fresh Express brand is the most prominent.

A cRc statement noted: “We have not been able to independently confirm these results on a national scale, but accept the findings of these hechsherim based on the research of experienced Mashgichim in multiple cities.

Accordingly, the cRc recommends that for the remainder of  2015, consumers nationally should either (a) purchase iceberg lettuce which bears reliable kosher certification, or (b) wash and have experts inspect iceberg lettuce (fresh or bagged) 

Reb Shnuer Kotler, Z"L personally appointed.....

The Rosh Yeshiva, Reb Shnuer Kotler, Z"L personally appointed R' Yudel Shain as the Mashgiach in charge of kashrus in the Yeshivas kitchen. 


Reb Shnuer, Z"L appointed R' Yudel Shain in the presence of Reb Noson Wachtfogel, Z"L the Mashgiach. The Mashgiach, Reb Noson told Reb Shnuer that he had some concerns re: the kashrus reliability in the kitchen The Rosh Yeshiva and Mashgiach.

Reb Shnuer, Z"L told the Mashgiach to call in yudel shain. Reb Shnuer asked yudel shain to please accept the responsibility of the kashrus in the yeshivas kitchen.

The second day on the job yudel shain was of the opinion that a key frum person in the kitchen must be laid off. Reb Shnuer & Reb Noson, Z"L concurred and accepted the employees resignation immediately.

Reb Yudel Shain remained the Yeshivas kashrus mashgiach for a number of years, till he left the kolel of the yeshiva. Yudel shain made all of the decisions re: kashrus and only answered to Reb Shnuer, Z"L.

The תכלת issue clarified

WHY I DO NOT WEAR תכלת (MUREX DYE)

The sefer עין התכלת quotes a message which the בית הלוי sent to the author.

הגאבד"ק בריסק דליטא שיחיה מסר כל טעמו ונימוקו בדבר מיאונו במצות

התכלת לאחד ממיודעינו שיכתוב ויאמר לנו משמו בזה הלשון כמע"ל לא   ביאר

בדבריו מה זאת מצא אחר שנשכח, אם מציאת הדג או הוצאת צבעו, ורק אחרי

אשר כמע"ל יברר זאת, היינו היה בזה דבר הנשכח והוא מצאה, אז נהיה

מחויבים לשמוע אליו וללבשו, אכן אם נאמר כי הדג היה במציאות, וגם הוצאת

צבעו היה ידוע בכל זמן מהזמנים שעברו עלינו מעת שפסקה התכלת מישראל,

ועל כל זה לא לבשוהו אבותינו ואבות אבותינו, הרי הוא כאילו יש לנו בקבלה

ומסורה מאבותינו כי זה הדג וצבעו איננו החלזון והתכלת אף שהוא בכל

הםימנים שסמנו בו חז"ל, כי אפילו נרבה כחול ראיות לא יועילו נגד הקבלה

והמסורה, ורק אחרי אשר יברר לנו כי דג זה או מלאכת צבעו נפסק ונשכח

מציאתו או ידיעתו בשום זמן מהזמנים ונפסקה בזה הקבלה אז יהיה לנו דברי

ההלכה לראיה, ע"כ

From an Email, the answer is yes-at no charge.

Reb Yudel,
I heard from a reliable source that you would consider giving a Mehadrin hashgocha provided they use Positive products, Mashgiach is properly trained in bedikas toloyim, and the owner is mekabel not to talk in shul-| at no charge for the Hashgocha.?

Jukim in couscous? that's right

Who may have a say in a Sh'tuht? al pi Halacha of course

ששאלתם שקמו אנשים שמשתדלים להיות השלוח' דרבנן בעניני הציבור וכו'

שולחן ערוך חושן משפט, סימן ג' סעיף ד'
רמ"א וז"ל -להושיב דינים ושופטים מי שירצה ומכל מקום מי שעושה זה בלא רשות הקהל (י"ג) מצער הציבור ועתיד ליתן את הדין (תשובת רשב"א)
אורים ותומים (י"ג) מצער הציבור. הוא לשון ריב"ש בתשובה, והרמ"א העתיקו ,ותמהני שלא העתיק שהוא חרם רבינו תם ורשב"ם וראב"ן וק"ן רבנים והוא בתשובת מהר"ם דפוס פראג בסופו (קנט-ב') וז"ל, ועוד גזרנו ונידינו וחרמנו בשמתא ובשם מיתה שלא יהיה אדם רשאי ליטול שררה על הציבור לא ע"י מלך וכו 'כי לענוש וכו 'אם לא שימנו אותם רוב הקהל מפני חשיבותם , והעובר על זה וכו' פתו פת כותי וכו' 'ושומר[ נפשו] ינוח ברכות על ראשו, עכ"ל.

Aleph Institute fund raising activities, scam alert

Do not share any names of  your family, contacts or associates or with any Aleph Institute's associates. They are utilizing the information just to raise funds for their questionable Organization.

Aleph Institute will tell your contacts concocted stories of all of the good they are doing for you and all other inmates, they might believe them. It's a scam to raise money.

Alert: Shatnez headbands

Update: Kashrus alert: Portobello and exotic mushrooms

Kashrus alert: Portobello and exotic mushrooms are infested, including USA product.
On the portobello mushrooms, the gills on the underside must be scraped and removed prior to use.

Note: There are Lakewood based Rabonim that consider themselves experts in insects, they are advising people that Portobello mushrooms never have insects.

Beware: Once your'e client, you'll remain a client for ever.

It's a well known fact, that Psychiatrists, dermatologists, therapists,  chiropractors,  once your'e client, you'll remain a client for ever. 

Now there is a new one, If you go to a Bai$-Din in Borough park (run by a Bobov-48) you'll always be coming back to them for more $ittings. Called a " ישיבת בית דין"

Even the P$ak is deliberately written in a manner that will make you come back time & again.

Update: Aleph Institute- Where do your donations go to?

Correction: Aleph Institute will be providing cheese cake for shavous at the prison commissary. The charge is $2.50 a slice "all the money goes to the Aleph institute". 
Looking for a donor for the cheese cake. 
8 inmates at @2.50 a slice= $20.00 


In Aleph Institute Mission Statement they only claim to provide spiritual but no physical needs such as food, etc. For those item one must go the Catholic or Muslim Chaplains.

So what in the world does Aleph Institute need donations?
They only need some minimum contributions at most.


Clarification: The Prison system tries very hard to accommodate their needs. The issue is the Aleph Institute, they don't realize that prisoners are to be treated as human beings. (hat-tip to Aleph chaplains, if there are any?)


 What does the 501 (c) 3 Aleph Institute do for the prisoners?
Ah! Aleph Institute's mantra is "kim'aht"!

Hot water for shabbos? NO!
A warm meal for Shabbos? NO!
Lechem Mishnah for Shabbos? NO!
Any other accommodations? NO!

OH! they put them on tefillin, and daled-minim. (during the week) 


Your donations are going to whose pocket?
Rabbi in charge may have the answers.

RABBI MENACHEM M. KATZ

Director of Prison & Military Outreach

Address: 9540 Collins Avenue Surfside Florida 33154-7127 United States E-mail: mmk@aleph-institute.org Telephone: (305) 864-5553 ext. 14 Fax: (305) 864-5675 http://www.aleph-institute.org

Update: Kashrus alert- OU Almond milk D or no D ?

Friendly farms Almond milk "vanilla flavor", some are OU-D some identical containers are OU  not dairy. "very confusing"!

How could a certifier allow the exact same container, when is kosher parve and the other is cholov akum=treif?

Iceberg lettuce is also muchzak in infestation all year

Dear STAR-K, O-U, KOF-K, CRC, AKO members, et al Consumers, Vendors and Mashgichim, etc.

Please note that there is currently very high levels of infestation in produce coming from the Yuma, AZ region. The weather there has been unseasonably warm and wet, which is causing very high levels of insect pressure.

Even iceberg lettuce has been found to be heavily infested. We [should] have [currently] stopped certifying much of the iceberg lettuce at Fresh Express and Dole if they are being sourced from [anyplace] Yuma.

The growing season in Yuma ends in the next week or two, [after pesach] at which time we hope the situation will improve as sources move to other regions.[and the mumcham will be able to check properly]

In the meantime, if you buy prewashed lettuce, PLEASE [HAVE AN EXPERT] CHECK BAGS OF LETTUCE CAREFULLY to make sure the STAR-K [OR ANY OTHER CERTIFIER] symbol is present. We are the checking the iceberg daily in various plants and if they bear the STAR-K [OR OTHER CERTIFIER]symbol, they are still certified [BUT REQUIRES EXPERT CHECKING]. However, many bags of iceberg over the next few weeks will NOT bear the STAR-K [OR OTHER CERTIFICATION].

Mashgichim who are [trained experts] checking produce themselves should be extra careful.

NOTE: Any untrained individual including mashgichim, etc should check any vegetables, fruits, etc.

Wishing everyone a Good Shabbos, and a kosher Pesach.

The Oak tree

The Oak trees are massive,
do not get toppled even by strong winds
as it's well rooted, etc

It all happened because-
A NUT THAT STOOD ITS GROUND! 

The kosher meat shortage, man made

The kosher Meat Shortage in the USA- Solution:

1-    The average of a non-veal beef Shechita in the USA should be as follows:

Glatt [including Bais-Yosef]- 12-18%

Non-Glatt 25-30%

2-    Additional personnel required for the non-glatt production is 1-2 additional boidkim or inspectors. Of course the non-glatt would require additional time & personnel for the deveining (treiboring) and salting.

3-    Kosher Consumers in the USA are 30-35% glatt, 65-70%  non-glatt.

4-    At the current glatt productions it would be very economical to utilize the additional 25-30% of the non-glatt.

5-    This would alleviate the meat shortage in a very short period of time of 2-3 weeks.

6-    This would also cause a glut in the kosher beef, which would bring down the price of beef to the kosher consumer.

7-    The Orthodox Union aka “OU” till a few years ago also certified non-glatt beef.

8-    It would be advantageous for the Supermarket chains across the USA to besiege the “OU” to step up to the plate and bring the cost of beef to the kosher consumer to a market more in line with other beef.

9-    The consumer in general is facing economic pressures at this time in being able to afford their basic shopping needs.

10  -The “OU” can do this on their own and they owe it to the kosher consumer.

11- It would eliminate or at least minimize the meat kashrus scandals.

www.Kosherconsumer.org

kashrusy@aol.com

                 Yehuda Shain

Glatt Kosher Meat Is Not All It Is Cut Out To Be!

Forward.com

Glatt Kosher Meat Is Not All It Is Cut Out To Be -By Marc Shapiro    Fri. Aug 18, 2006

״כדי לחיות באושר צריך לחיות ביושר, ומי שחי בשקר משלם על כך ביוקר״ רי ינקל מילר, שליט"א

Alert: Liver "store broiled"

Store broiled liver may be a serious issue, i.e. store packaged "Kiryas Joel liver" may have been broiled (cooked) on the equipment as liver that you wouldn't use. Therefore only buy if packaged by Kiryas Joel not store broiled.

Not all מוהלים are qualified, no matter how many they did.

The Scale insect

The scale insect common in citrus fruits and in the juice extracted has an 

interesting life cycle.

The insect goes through different stages also called molts.
The insect crawls for about 2 days till it finds a citrus fruit that it can draw food from with it's feeding tube inserted in the fruit.
The insect then excretes a scale covering in an oblong shape that covers essentially it's whole body, leaving some room for offspring etc.

At a following stage or molt, it's legs that are not needed anymore are dried up,[ or withdrawn] as Rav Avigdor Miller Z"L describes Hashem's wondrous creations. In the females of the scales the antennae and legs are not lost, but are reduced to such an extent that though the adults can move about somewhat they seldom do.

It's time for the insect under the scale to reproduce, it is "roch'esh" backwards to the oblong point of the scale covering where there is a minute hole that was not covered by the scale excretion.
The male insect can then line up with the female for reproduction purposes.
The female moves forward "roch'esh" and produces it's offspring. after a while the offspring will leave the shelter of the scale covering.

For the minute movements under the scale the insect does not need it's legs, but still is able to move.
The snake that hashem removed it's legs, is still a beryiah, can still move, etc.

There is another fascinating thing about the life cycle of the scale insect. It's legs do not have joints, so they can't fold. With the legs in it's original position will prevent the insect from being able to be in position for reproduction.Nif'lois ha'borei.

The legs are not necessarily removed, it may be withdrawn into the body. There are no dried out legs found. In the females of the scales the antennae and legs are not lost, but are reduced to such an extent that though the adults can move about somewhat they seldom do.

When the scale insect has to reproduce, and goes into stage #3, it stops feeding entirely [the feeding tube is withdrawn]. The salmon when they go to spawn, they also stop all eating completely.

After it was with the male scale insect it does not continue to feed at all, it just reproduces. then it's in the next stage of its cycle and does not continue to feed.

Alert: Pineapples and pineapple "packed in it's own juice"?

As is well known, Pineapples do have insects in the crown and in the brown parts of the skin peel.

Some Pineapples were found to have have mealybugs  past the brown area as well, it must be checked by experts in infestation.

Now it was discovered another insect issue with canned pineapple. "Packed-in-its-own-juice". The canned pineapple is raw not cooked, how do they get the "Packed-in-its-own-juice"?

They take the skin / peel, etc with all of the inherent insects and cook it to obtain the pineapple-juice.

Is the somewhat viscous juice filtered? If yes, with what size filter?
We asked some of the heimish certifiers and they refuse to respond.

Orange juice

בענין ה"כנימה" שנמצאת בפרי הדר ובהמיץ שלהם Scale insects in Orange Juice

עיין עירובין י"ג: בענין לטהר השרץ בק"ן טעמים, ע' תוספות שם

עיין בסנהדרין י"ז. תוס' שיודע וכו' וקשה לר"ת דמה לנו בחריפות של הבל     לטהר השרץ שהתורה טימאתו

עיין בשו"ת שבט הלוי חלק ז' 

ובסוף סימן קכ"ד וזה לשונו "ואשרי הנזהר שלא להשתמש בכל ההיתרים, והשי"ת יצילנו מתולעים ןמשגיאות, עכ"ל.

In the USA there is no Bitul by the Orange Juice

 דבר שיש לו מתירין!

As Reb Shlomo Zalman, Z"L said "americanah Rabbonim zuchen nuhr heteirim. 

Alert: Chicago definition of "milk"

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -

Speaking of animals, another new law expands the definition of legally saleable milk to include milk from sheep, water buffalo and other hooved animals. 

interesting video re: scale insects

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wCGfZkv88A

Rav Shmuel Wosner on kashrus issues in general- לא ראינו אינו ראיה

הרה"ג שמואל הלוי וואזנר שליט"א אמר שמה שהרמ"א אומר ביו"ד ס'' ס"ד סעיף ו' ..צריך ראיה מן הבקי [או מומחה] ואי אפשר לבאר היטב בספר וכו'' בזה נכלל כל עניני כשרות. הרב או הבעל מכשיר מקומו בבה"מ, והמומחה בודק כל הענינים והמציאות, ואח"כ שואל להרב ההלכה והדרך איך לסדר  יצור 

עצהי"ט, אבל רק המומחה קובע המציאות.   וכו' 

The Experts in insects determined the facts re: Orange Juice infestation.

It's  ובגדר מיעוט המצו' ונראה לעינים

The experts in insects were from Lakewood, Brooklyn, Monsey, Eretz Yisroel, etc.
Some of the experts, Feingold, Strasser, Einhorn, Goldstein, Green, Rav Moshe Vaye, R' Shmuel Sternfeld, etc 

לא ראינו אינו ראיה

What size of insect is to be considered "visible" according to the Gedoilei Hapoiskim?

Tropicana heteirim? לא דובים ולא יער

Tropicana juice's Heteirim? לא דובים ולא יער
All based on facts that don't exist, Reb Dovid, Reb Shlomo & Reb Usher were sold a bill of goods, all fabrications. 

Update: Tropicana Orange Juice Teshuva

Copies available kashrusy@aol.com Subject-Tropicana


All of the trained or semi-trained all saw " whole-insects".

The fragments, parts, fruit parts, etc. bubbah- mai'sis are the fabrications of the OK et al.

Kashrus Alert: Update: PINEAPPLE infested beyond the brown parts

Update: Kashrus Alert:

PINEAPPLE (Costa-Rica) was found to be infested with mealy bugs 

beyond the brown parts! 

Therefore at this time Pineapple should not be used including canned pineapple.

                                 Older alert on pineapple

Kashrus alert: Honeydew honey is not kosher- Some honey processors produce both in the same facility, and it is heated. Beware when buying honey, etc in health food stores.

Honeydew Honey- is not permitted, as it's an extraction from other insects, it does not become permitted just because the bee collected it.

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"Honeydew" is a classification of honey that refers to honey produced by honeybees collecting nectar that is exuded from another insect such as an aphid or scale insect. It is quite common in a number of countries and the best known is honeydew from the Black Forest in Germany. World wide honeydew can be referred to variously as "forest honey", "Pine honey", "Fir honey" etc. and may sometimes be referred to by the specific species of tree producing the honeydew. 

“Nothing more completely baffles one who is full of trick and duplicity, than straightforward and simple integrity in another.”

Very powerful video by Rav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, Shlita

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6WgMPCtm1Y

olive oil shortage= adulteration fraud big time

Shortage of Olive Oil Predicted

This year's harvest appears to be twenty percent lower than last year

October 20, 2014

Harvest reports from the major olive growing areas around the world indicate a significantly smaller crop in 2014, and combined with the steady growth in demand for Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the news has experts expressing concern about a shortage of top quality olive oil. This year's harvest of 2.56 million tons appears to be about twenty percent lower than last year's, and more important, falls well below the 3 million tons consumed last year. 

 "As with all agricultural products, olives and olive oil are subject to the whims and vagaries of nature," says Ann Sievers of Il Fiorello Olive Oil Company, who makes olive oil for some of the top names in the Napa Valley. "Here in Northern California, there are many concerns not only about the size of the crop but also the constant issue of the olive fly. It looks like our harvest will be just a bit below last year."