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Is Quinoa Kitniyos I know it is currently a machlokes can you name the sides and what is the reasoning

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4 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted

Per the Star-K and CRC-Chicago it is not Kitniyos

Kosher for Passover Status: Quinoa was determined to be Kosher L'Pesach. It is not related to the chameishes minei dagan-five types of grain products, nor to millet or rice. Quinoa is a member of the "goose foot" family, which includes sugar beets and beet root. The Star-K tested quinoa to see if it would rise. The result was as Chazal termed, sirchon; the quinoa decayed - it did not rise. However, recent investigations have found that there is a possibility that Quinoa grows in proximity to certain grains and processed in facilities that compromise Quinoa kosher for Passover status. Therefore, Quinoa should only be accepted with reliable Kosher for Passover supervision.

http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-passover-quinoa.htm

March 22, 2011

The cRc approves the use of whole grain quinoa for Pesach on the following conditions:

•The quinoa is imported exclusively from Bolivia. Ancient Harvest is one of the brands that only imports quinoa from Bolivia; there may be others. The label should state the country of origin.

•The quinoa must be carefully inspected by hand before Pesach.
This is done by spreading one layer of quinoa at a time on a board or plate and checked to be sure that there are no other grains or foreign matter mixed in with the quinoa.

This does not apply to Quinoa flour which is not permitted on Passover.

http://www.crcweb.org/alerts.php

However, see this important update regarding quinoa from the CRC-Chicago for 2012 which limits from where quinoa should be used on Pesach.

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I edited this to make it more clear that the text from last year wasn't part of the update. The right thing to do, however, would be to update the section with the CRC's position, explaining what it is now and referring to this year's position paper for more detail. Maintaining the old information and just linking to the new information is confusing. – Isaac Moses Mar 19 '12 at 19:04
... Actually, on second thought, the update doesn't really change CRC's holding with respect to whether quinoa is kitniyot, which is the question at hand. I guess it makes sense to include the reference as a bolded footnote, of interest to people who are interested in this issue practically. – Isaac Moses Mar 19 '12 at 19:09
up vote 4 down vote

Per the OU it is a current Mahlokes so ask your Rav.

Those who say it is assur hold so because it is a species that is made into flour and "bread", it is grown and harvested like grain, and it is often processed in facilities that also process real grains. These are three of the major factors when it comes to determining what is included in kitniyos.

Those who allow it do so because according to Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe O"Ch III:63) there is no basis to extend this custom to newly discovered foods.

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1  
1- It would be nice if the OU would take a stand either way. 2- They should list some names of Rabbi's that hold each way. – Gershon Gold Mar 28 '11 at 23:25
If you look at their documents it does the Problem is the two Main Poskim of the OU argue. Meaning Reb Schecter holds one way Rav Belsky the other therefore the OU can not have an opinion – SimchasTorah Mar 29 '11 at 0:03
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Rav Belsky is matir and Rav Shechter assurs. – Yahu Mar 29 '11 at 4:40
@Yahu: Rav Belsky says: "the custom is that quinoa is not used for Pesach since it is used in the same way as wheat" (thehalacha.com/attach/Volume4/Issue10.pdf) – Curiouser Apr 2 '12 at 2:20
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up vote 1 down vote

all of your questions are answered in this excellent article here - including the whos whats and whys - including all reasonings of poskim -of all sides of the quinoa halachic debate

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excellent link - thanks for sharing! it answered up all my questions – user1248 Mar 24 at 8:50
up vote 0 down vote

Apparently the OU has changed their stance on the status of this grain and removed it from this Passover certification list (2013)

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See Yahu's answer. The only thing they've changed is how they list it. Instead of "it's a machlokes, ask your rabbi" it's now "it's a machlokes, don't eat it". – Seth J Feb 26 at 18:13
And the dispute is internal to the OU, not a dispute among communities or among major, independent Posekim. – Seth J Feb 26 at 18:13
Or did you mean they've removed it from the "bad" list? – Seth J Feb 26 at 18:17

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