Questions tagged [hechsher-certification]

Questions about kosher certification of commercial food products.

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Does Rooibos tea need a hechsher?

Unlike regular tea, which is from the plant Camellia sinensis, rooibos tea is derived from the plant Aspalathus linearis. I've checked CRC and Star-K and their tea-specific articles don't mention ...
JoshPactor's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
11k views

Is a bottle or jug of 100% pure maple syrup kosher without certification?

There are several farmers' markets scattered around the New York City area. Many of them carry bottles or jugs of 100% NY State or Vermont maple syrup. Occasionally I find Canadian maple syrup. (For ...
DanF's user avatar
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4 votes
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Do Whole Vanilla Beans Need A Hekhsher?

Vanilla beans and their derivatives are commonly used in many dishes as a spice. The whole beans are available for purchase in stores and online. I understand that plain fruits and vegetables (when ...
Double AA's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
283 views

Kabbalah/Certification in Shechita in US? [closed]

Who can someone go to to get Kaballah in Shechita in America?
user9841's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
73 views

Changing a hashgacha stamp after the rav's death

I've noticed recently that wines which we get under the hashgacha of the Bada"tz Beit Yosef list "R' Ovadia Yosef Shlit"a." As R' Ovadia died more than a year ago and these are young wines, I suspect ...
Noach MiFrankfurt's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
844 views

Providing services to a forbidden ceremony

If a secular society criminalizes discriminating against a ceremony (e.g., a wedding between arayot [forbidden sexual unions, e.g., incest, bestiality, or homosexuality] or an idolatrous ritual), is a ...
Loewian's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Cranberries on Passover

Are fresh cranberries, bagged with OU (year-round) certification, kosher for Passover?
Rikki's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
1k views

Is arak kosher for pesach without a specific P hechsher?

I have a bottle of The Spirit of Jaffa Arak (ערק הניחוחות של יפו) with a regular circle-K hechsher as well as hashgachat-badatz-yerushalayim. Is there any reason this shouldn't be kosher for passover ...
gidklio's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
12k views

Starburst Fruit Chews kosher?

Are Starburst Fruit Chews kosher? This website below clearly has an OU on the right side. However, Gelatin appears on the ingredient list, and the oukosher.org website doesn't have any reference to ...
ArghMo's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why would aluminum tins need a Kosher L'Pesach hechsher?

A few days ago, my son noticed that a small aluminum tin that we used had a stamp from the Badat"z that said Kosher L'Pesach. I know that people put food in aluminum tins. But I don't know of anyone ...
DanF's user avatar
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Does 100% pure avocado oil need special kosher l'Pesach certification?

Costco carries a brand of avocado oil that I think is produced by Whole Foods. I know that OU, and I think other kashrut agencies have stated that 100% pure olive oil needs no special Pesach ...
DanF's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
300 views

Can one rely on halal combined with vegetarian labels?

i understand that halal can not be trusted for meat, but what about items that are certified halal and certified vegetarian? There are many vegetarian curry pastes and other spice pastes that can be ...
Aaron's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
184 views

Contemporary approaches to kashrut of dates

What are contemporary approaches regarding dealing with bug infestation of dates? Do Kashrut agencies (e.g. the Orthodox Union) regularly inspect crops to determine infestation levels? And if so, what ...
Loewian's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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Eating in a restaurant that is not under the beth din

Can one eat in a resturaunt that claims to be kosher, yet does not have a certified kashrut certificate from the local beth din? Is this a violation of a prohibition by the owner? Does the owner have ...
Ross Siduli's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
180 views

Is triangle k a reliable hechsher? [duplicate]

I heard that they're upping up their level of kashrut recently. I also heard that there are many different types of triangle k signs.
Avi Kupchik's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
205 views

Possibility of buying treyf meat in a kosher store

Since meat may be sold to a consumer before kashering and traiboring, it is possible that parts of meat obtained from a kosher store may not be kosher.* Ordinarily, one could guess whether the meat ...
SAH's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Frozen raspberries without supervision

My wife was told by a friend that a certain legitimate kashrus organization says that frozen raspberries do not require supervision, and upon calling the organization, she was told that the process ...
y.lub's user avatar
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13 votes
4 answers
39k views

KORC - Kosher Symbol

I was in Costco today and saw chopped romaine lettuce with the KORC symbol. I was wondering if anyone knows if this symbol is accepted by the OU or other large Kashrus organizations.
Gershon Gold's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
2k views

Does soy milk need a hechshir

Does soy milk need a hechshir since they put in artificial things that can be trayf or its all natural and it won't need a hechshir
user8772's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
4k views

Does electronic cigarette juice require a hechsher?

Does electronic cigarette "juice" need to be kosher (require a hechsher)? Does it matter what flavor the juice is?
Gavriel's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
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Shochtim who learned from translated materials

The Maharil in his Tshusvos Chadashos ("New Responsa," mentioned here), writes (Siman 93) that the custom is not to give kabblah to shochtim who learned the laws shechita in German (translated ...
sam's user avatar
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10 votes
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875 views

Whatever happened to plumbas?

Not so many years ago, a plumba (apparently created by Rabbi Jacob Joseph) -- a metal tag attached to the wing of a kosher chicken indicating that it was, indeed, kosher -- on a kosher chicken was the ...
Bruce James's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
3k views

Does flavored dental floss need a hechsher?

You can find flavored dental floss these days usually in the flavor of mint. Is there anything to worry about or is it no worse than mint mouthwash? If not, doesn't the gemarah in berachot 6th perek ...
Ani Yodea's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
3k views

Does loose leaf tea need a hechsher?

Sometimes I find bags of dried tea leaves of various sorts in my local Turkish store. Do such teas need a hechsher (certification as kosher)? Is there any indicator I can use to tell if it's kosher or ...
Ani Yodea's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
136 views

Who hechshers P'til Tekhelet?

P'til Tekhelet is an organisation which makes M. trunculus techeilet. Who hechshers their tzitziot?
Noach MiFrankfurt's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
2k views

Creating a crowd-sourced database of non-dairy OU-D products

Several questions/answers on this site have pointed out that the OU-D hechsher does not always mean that the product is actually dairy. (But that it is, in reality, "OU-DE" [dairy equipment]. See here ...
Y     e     z's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

What's the Bishul Akum heter for hard-boiled eggs?

I've seen prepackaged hard-boiled eggs in the grocery store with an OU. As eggs are relatively inedible raw, what is the heter vis-a-vis bishul akum for them? (Or are they having a Jewish mashgiach ...
Shalom's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
474 views

What's with this "approved for Pesach" tape?

That's masking tape from the hardware store, with an "approved for Pesach" label by the Badatz. What??
Scimonster's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
45 views

Can certified vegan be assumed to be pareve? [duplicate]

If a food item has a valid kosher certification, which marks it as being dairy, but also has certification from a vegan certification that it is vegan, can it be assumed to be dairy equipment? I don'...
jim's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
684 views

Who is this certification ([KA] in a square)?

Which organization uses this symbol? It was seen on a package of candy (Goody Good Stuff is the brand) in the Netherlands.
Yishai's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
118 views

What is the difference between kosher and permitted food?

I wish to allude to this answer, which distinguishes between "kosher" and "permitted" (and "non-kosher" and "forbidden") foods for purposes of knowing when to make a bracha. Can someone explain this ...
SAH's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
623 views

Does flavored drip/ground coffee require a hechsher?

It seems like plain unflavored coffee does not need a kosher certification. Does flavored drip/ground coffee require a hechsher?
Ani Yodea's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
255 views

Allergen information says "may contain..."

If a product is labeled dairy, but the allergen information says "may contain traces of milk," can I assume that it is actually only dairy equipment? If it didn't say anything, maybe they just didn't ...
jim's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
97 views

Assuming something has remained Kosher

When someone buys a product with Kosher certification, do they have to check to make sure that it is still certified Kosher or can they rely on the fact that the last time (or first time) they bought ...
Y     e     z's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
413 views

Kosher flavored beer without certification on the bottle?

I've always heard that the rule in the United States is that domestic non-microbrewery/craft unflavored beer needs no certification as kosher, as all such beers are kosher, but that any other beer (...
msh210's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
15k views

Who certified this yogurt as kosher?

Looking at unclear hechshers on some yogurt packages: Dannon "Light and Fit" yogurt has a capital K without any other identifier. Yoplait "Light" has a capital K D. I was told that the letter K ...
Mike's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
121 views

Does "Nivdak" flour, grains, beans or pasta exist?

I know Bodek, among other brands sells pre-checked (for bugs, worms, etc.) produce. However, I have not seen any commercially available pre-checked rice, barley (etc. - pretty much any grain that is ...
DanF's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
136 views

Is national-brand mozzarella under constant supervision?

Shulchan Aruch and Rama, Yore Dea 115:2, indicate that cheese made by a non-Jew can't be eaten unless a Jew saw it being made. Kraft, a national brand, now has some Ⓤ-certified reduced-fat ...
msh210's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
384 views

Ramen and a hechsher?

I just came across this article about improvising around instant ramen. Assuming that the flavour pack is independent of noodles, does one need a hechsher on ramen?
Noach MiFrankfurt's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
2k views

Is Soylent kosher certified?

The Soylent company claims its vegan product (the powder – not the oil blend) is kosher certified, and the powder's manufacturer does mention Star-K, but does the powder actually have a hechsher – ...
Adám's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Do multiple hechsherim (kosher symbols) on a product make its kashrut less reliable?

A former rebbe whom I highly respect advised me not to eat any food product that has more than one kosher certification on it. His thinking was that in principle, the concepts of kashrut and achdut - ...
DanF's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
354 views

Why don't kashrut agencies mark on certain cheeses that one must wait 6 hours?

While shopping for Shavu'ot, I noticed that the caterer had marked on their eggplant rollatini "made with 6-hour cheese". I was pleased that they did this, as I had never seen this marking, previously....
DanF's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
960 views

What is the point of a hechsher on Cholov Stam?

I assume that the widespread custom of eating/drinking Cholov Stam products (products using milk in which the milking was not observed by a Jew) is relying on the leniency of R' Moshe Feinstein that ...
Y     e     z's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
119 views

Does a mashgi'ach revoke a store's hashgacha when health department finds insects?

The city health department has cited a kosher restaurant as having violations because they found mice and insects crawling on the food in the kitchen. Since mice and insects are non-kosher, I'm ...
DanF's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
518 views

Certification of Shochtim

Do Shochtim need any kind of certification or license in order to shecht? How does one get a license? What if someone slaughtered without one?
MTL's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
153 views

Contradictory Hechsherim

I've noticed for some time that, especially on imported foods, there are often multiple Hechsherim, and that they sometimes contradict one another. It might not surprise me if a foreign product were ...
Seth J's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
417 views

Do restaurants need a kosher certificate?

There is a concept of "Eid echad ne'eman b'issurin" which means if a person testifies on something that is questionable we believe him. An example would be regarding kosher: if I go to a friend's ...
David Feigen's user avatar
  • 1,912
0 votes
1 answer
159 views

Why have there been no Hashgachas on DVDs, books, CDs, etc.?

Even many foods that do not require Hashgacha have a Hashgacha. At times, after a book, CD, or DVD hits the market, there is a proclamation banning it. Perhaps, instead, a book, CD, or DVD could have ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
237 views

What is "reverse certification"

I got this in a daily halacha email but not sure what Reverse Certification means, I figure someone here does Reverse Certification It is permitted for a mashgiach to enter a non-kosher establishment ...
Seymore Cohen's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
496 views

What are all the different koshers for/about?

I found out recently that what I had been thinking of as a "food copyright symbol", (U), is actually a statement of kosherness. Now that I know what this is, I'm starting to see different symbols like ...
K.A.Monica's user avatar