The CONCORD grape is in season, so what?

The CONCORD grape is in season, so what?
Due to the infestation on the skin of grapes, it was not practical to wash each grape separately.

The Concord grape has a thick skin, and one can "POP" out the grape inside & not eat the skin.

בית יוסף Who's Bais Yosef beef to use?

בית יוסף

Who's Bais Yosef beef to use?

Solomon's, Fishel's,
Kiras Joel (even when not marked as Bais yosef) 

Every parent should listen to the entire video from Reb Yaakov Bender, shlita

http://www.vosizneias.com/112417/2012/08/27/new-york-renowned-educator-rabbi-yaakov-bender-in-powerful-speech-on-parenting-and-at-risk-teens-video

Schools list of Heimish nosh only

Waxes on fruits & vegetables is more of a serious problem than first thought.

Certain fruits and vegetables are coated with waxes etc to prevent dehydration. Some of the coatings may not be kosher e.g. "lac-resin", which is a secretion from an insect.

REB MOSHE's "psak" was based on not correct information.

To the best of our current information tomatoes do not use the lac-resin, apples do use lac-resin
(applied warm), peppers may use it but there may not be "shishim" & or a "Poigim", cucumbers should be peeled. Sour pickles do not have coatings prior to their use as sour pickles.

Apples even when washed with soap some residue remains. Peppers can be washed with soap.

KASHRUS: Checking for infestation-The blind leading the blind.

The mashgichim & their certifiers don't know how to check for insects properly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVddVIpTH6M&featur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1fRkTvL9fk&feature=relatede=related

KASHRUS ALERT: Many kosher published recipes contain "treif" ingredients" !

Rabonim should ban all published recipes unless they have a kashrus approval from a kashrus expert, who is up to date especially in the area of  INFESTATION.

Many of the recipe books from well meaning authors contain numerous non-kosher recipes.
Many of the Newspapers & Jewish magazines contain recipes with non-kosher ingredients.

The "baala'buste" may be fooled in thinking that it's kosher, especially regarding infestation.

Checking for infestation requires experts or to be taught by an expert.

All herbs are infested. Corn on the cob, strawberries, raspberries, most blueberries from the 2012 crop, etc are infested.

The Rebbe by Rabbi Berel Wein

Why date codes on products are important?

Why are date codes on products are important?

How old is the wine, grape juice, other grocery items, etc.

   1st                                                  2nd &3rd                    4th

Month                                    day of month                             year

A - K                                                                                            A  -   M

"A"   = Jan-                                                                                                        "A" being 2000 (or 01)

"K"    = Dec                                                                                  "L" or "M"  =2012

Now check the dated on your Kedem wine & Grape Juice & see if it's fresh or how old. 

Of course Yoshon, you must know how to read the date codes.

The status of Milk, Cholov akum, Stam, Akum, Treif !

The status of Milk, Cholov akum, Stam, Akum, Treif !
Cholov Yisroel is more than just that a Shomer Shabbos that observes cholov yisroel was present at the milking. They also now (past 15 years) have to institute a system to remove all of the "vet procedured cows" as they are treif.

Reb Moshe Feinstein's heter of Cholov stam in the USA (when cholov yisroel is not readily available) was prior to us becoming aware of the "vet procedures" that render the cows (4-8%+-) treif.

The Heimish hashgochas only use the cholov yisroel even before to "treif" that was discovered some 15 years ago. The Maryland based International wanted their Hashgochas to be accepted by the yeshivish type crowd so they only certified cholov yisroel products. When the profits that were being lost to cholov stam / akum was too much, they teamed up with another Organization & developed the Star-D.

The Orginazational certifiers that are relying on the Heter of one the poiskim at the major NY based kosher certifier that procedures do not render the cows treif is not to be relied upon, per all major poiskim including Rav Eliyashev, Z"L.

For Non-Dairy item, the Orginizational hashgochas may have certain advantages, i.e. mashgiach temidi, trained mashgichim, do not rely on the owner or management, etc

Fish sticks & Sarimi

All Fish sticks & Sarimi are made from "minced" pollock fish, which is an infested fish. Therefore no fish sticks or Sarimi should be used. This includes no califonia roll at the sushi station, no imitation crab, etc.

The Gerorges flounder is supposed to be one flounder that is clean, so the fish mongers tell you oh we only have (or also cary) the Georges flounder-it's a catch all for fraud-Why should you believe them?

"Green House grown"

Inspections were made be experts of greenhouses growing crops that are insect free. They found that all greenhouse grown crops are indeed infested, al beit under some control. When one sees "greenhouse grown" don't be misled to thing there aren't insects. It would depend on the quality of of the individulas checking & the system of cleaning the product

Radicchio lettuce infested

Radicchio lettuce is infested, contrary to the claims of kosher certifiers

Blueberries Grade A are infested

Generally all Blueberries even Grade A are infested.

Wash the in a bucket of water, strain the water through a coffee filter, put on a light box and you'll see them infested.

Don't try putting the water in a glass bowl on a light box, as you can'y fins all of the insects.

It's been proven the in a glass bowl on a light box that so many mashgichim have been doing turned out to be completly unreliable, confirmed by Reb Moshe Via, Shlita (International insect expert".

kosher certified "olive-oil-adulterated?"

http://foodintegritynow.org/2012/07/25/tom-mueller-extra-virginity-the-sublime-and-scandalous-world-of-olive-oil/

New chicken virus spreading Internationally

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Australia-discovers-new-chicken-virus/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BDaily&c=P%2BxdiblPOxd3PevkaIxCuQ%3D%3D

The Brick!!!!

The Brick!!!!

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

Cauliflower, Raisins, Blackberries, Grapes

Cauliflower? Out of luck.

Raisins? Make wine & filter.

Blackberries? Out of luck.

Grapes? Wash & rub well very carefully being careful not to push any of the insects into the grape stem area.

Infestation: Strawberries are worse than Romaine

Strawberries are worse than Romaine to check for infestation. Romaine lettuce can be checked if one is expert and has the required equipment. Strawberries are infested with thrips that hide under the seeds & it's impossible to see them till they come out.

Therefore fresh strawberries must be peeled completely.

All of the frozen strawberries with a hashgocha or Ishur must be cooked, pureed, etc prior to use.

Brocolli-What's the solutions?

Brocolli Solutions-

Buy fresh, remove all florets....For soup you don't have to peel, for other uses it's suggested to peel.

Buy the chopped or whole stems "100% floret free-only".

Sweet cherries infested

Sweet cherries were found to be infested even though there were no visible signs from the outside.

The Recipe "Treif" disclaimers

Most recipe books & published recipes in Hamodia, Yated, Shopper, The Voice etc are of the non-Torah opinion that when their recipes contain non-kosher ingredients e.g. fresh herbs, Vegies, strawberries, etc (which a consumer is not qualified at all to check-hence treif) -

-they write a disclaimer "Ask your local Rav re: checking & cleaning for infestation". You know that there are NO Rabonim that know how to check let alone clean...see Chasam sofer O/C 132.

It's actually a treif "EXCLAIMER ! ! !"

Even though all Rabonim know that the herbs, vegies, fruits in the recipe are ossur because of infestation that you can't clean ..,

USE IT ANYWAYS.

Celery is infested with leaf miners at this time

Celery is infested with leaf miners at this time. The leaf miners is found in the leaves which are normally discarded. They are also found in the green stalks. It looks like a wiggly translucent trail.

"Scales" are insects, common on citrus.

"Scales" are insects, common on citrus. Commercial Orange juices do sometimes contain "scales". Home, kiosk or store squezzed orange juice may also contain scales & must be filtered through a coffee filter.
NOTE: Pictures are for demonstration purposes only.

Blind leading the blind? (kashrus)

A prominent Kashrus Organization contracted out their food-service hashgochas to another smaller certifier, to monitor & set standards. The smaller certifier knows the "buzz" words, but not reliable in foodservice operations. The dollar is the guideline. 

A foodservice operator that has lost at least 3 hashgochas due to violations of kashrus is now being certified by this large certifier. A dollar is a dollar.

Garden State Parkway "rest stop" tickets.

Garden State Parkway "rest stop" areas have interior road STOP signs. Many are receving tickets for rolling stops, evan at 1:00 AM in the middle of the night.

House flies lay their eggs on "protein"

House flies lay their eggs on "protein", e.g. meat poultry tuna salad, etc. Always keep meat, poultry, tuna covered as the house fly may lay as many as 150 cream colored eggs at a time. They will do it in a flash.

Can one be acceptable as a mashgiach- if ?.........

Can one be acceptable as a mashgiach for a cholov yisroel production- if  the prospective mashgiach consumes cholv stam / akum etc?......... The major Gedoilei Haposkim concluded that the operated cows, e.g. LDA, Bloat, C-Section, etc make the cow a "treifa" therefore, when one is of the illusion that he's drinking cholv stam / akum, etc it's actually "treif".

A Mashgiach that consumes treif on a constant basis shouldn't be used for any kosher production.

Are some supermarkets scamming the consumer?

Check the prices in the supermarket that's being rung up they may not be the price displayed on the shelf. At times they don't even have a posted price (illegal) and charge an inflated price.  When you bring the discrepancy to the cashiers attention they refuse to change it to the posted price.

Kashrus wise, should one rely on their repacked meat, poultry or anything else for that matter.

Eating at an affair from utensils that were not toiveled.



דעת מרן החזון איש זצ"ל היתה שלא לאכול במקומות אלו שלא טבלו הכלים, וכן דעת הגר"מ פיינשטיין זצ"ל במאסף לתורה והוראה חוברת ב עמ' 20 שאסור לאכול במלון או באולמות שלא הוטבלו הכלים

ALERT: Mousse and Apple coblers

ALERT: chocolate Mouse glass desert and the Apple coblers crock made by Chantilly bakery are not being toiveled. The Igros Moshe y"d 3, 22  and in the "miasef litoirah" Reb Moshe says one should not eat it. The Chazon Ish also says not to eat from a restaurant or caterer that doesn't toivel their utensils.

UPDATE: Copepods (zooplankton) insects in CANADIAN city water

Copepods insects in NYC city water supply was discovered a few years ago. Therefore filters were installed by NYC's food facilities under Hashgocha.

It was recently found also by the facilities out of NYC e.g. Canada that are processing prechecked vegetables, and they were not aware of the problem. Check with the hashgochas of the prechecked vegies.

Copepods are larger than mites. If the filters & Mashgichim didn't cath the copepods, they missed all of the mites as well.

UNLESS they never had filters, Mashgichim only saw the thrips & aphids. We're in trouble, I'm afraid.

"A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."

Rav Shmuel Wosner, Shlita said

   Rav S. Wosner's position is that all hashgochas must adhere to this basic requirement.

Master mind

Only 9 hours left to register for the most anticipated Teacher Development Week in LA's Jewish history. If you plan on attending, please make sure to register and pay for the workshops no later then June 10th. You can register in just a few short minutes by clicking here.
http://www.mastermindla.org/

Rav Shamshon Rafael Hirsh

"Even if you should be the only person in your community to hold a given view, do not say that you will never be able to gain a hearing.

As long as the view you represent is truly right and aims only at what is good, do not refrain from expressing it.

Continue your fight, tirelessly and undaunted, for years if need be; in the end - provided you have fought for your cause solely for its own sake, without ulterior, selfish motives - you will be heard!". -

Rav Shamshon Rafael Hirsh

COCHINEAL - Red Bug extract

Warning over cochineal extract in Japan-By Ankush Chibber, 05-Jun-2012

Authorities in Japan have sounded an alert over cochineal extract, a commonly used food colorant, over fears it could trigger intense allergic reactions amongst consumers.

All the "show n tell" of properly cleaning infestation from vegetables & fruit,

All the "show n tell" of properly cleaning infestation from vegetables & fruit, etc does it work in the real world?

[see Chasam Sofer # 130, brought in Mishnah Berurah-Pesach]-First, one must be trained to become profecient in knowing what to look for. Second, one must be trained in the proper methods of cleaning. One must have patience and good eye sight. The chasam Sofer sstates, otherwise one may not do his own checking As the Ramoh says in hilchos nikur "these thing one can't learn from books, only from experts.

An person that was not trained & tested by an expert remains unqualified to check infestation for himself, others or as a mashgiach. R"L

Strawberries-What's the options?

Strawberries- options?

Nice fresh large firm strawberries e.g. Driscoll brand, cut off green top, peel & eat.

Get the frozen with a reliable hashgocha, puree or cook...then use.

Free internet filter

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/aboutk9/overview

Any one know anything about the NATIV filter?

Thrips are being found in ONIONS

ONIONS have thrips. Thrips are being found now in onions. Must cut off from both top & bottom 3/8 " and check for non firm onion as they are more p[rone. Also the ones with double set of rings are alsommore prone to infestation.

parve in fleishig or milchig pots, etc

http://rabbikaganoff.com/

POM-Pomegranate Juice

Judge: POM Deceptively Marketed Pomegranate Juice Tue, 05/22/2012 - 8:50am

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal administrative judge ruled Monday that POM Wonderful used deceptive advertising when claiming that its pomegranate juice could treat or prevent heart disease, prostate cancer and other illnesses.

"It is a given that Time ripens all things; with Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of truth."

New York Kosher Label Act Is Constitutional, Court Says

New York Kosher Label Act Is Constitutional, Court Says-By Bob Van Voris - May 10, 2012

A New York law regulating the marketing and labeling of kosher food doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled, rejecting a First Amendment challenge.

A three-judge panel of the court in New York today affirmed a lower-court ruling that upheld the law, which replaced an earlier version the court overturned in 2002. The appeals court said the Kosher Law Protection Act of 2004 doesn’t violate First Amendment provisions restricting laws relating to religion.