Jerusalem – For decades, some basic foodstuffs like coffee, tea, sugar and salt were not required to have kashrus supervision, and a Jew could buy a cup of coffee in a disposable cup anywhere.
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But a new development in China may change all that.
A large manufacturing plant in China which markets sugar to Israel under a mehadrin hechsher was discovered to have bleached its sugar with lactose, a milk derivative, which makes it cholov akum.
The discovery was made by Rav Avraham Rubin, the head of the Rechovot Mehadrin kashrus organization. He traveled a month ago to the sugar manufacturing plant and discovered the cholov akum ingredient. The plant owners, suspecting nothing wrong, hadn’t even attempted to conceal the problematic ingredient on the list.
Rechovot Mehadrin Kashrus Agency representative, R’ Yaakov Zeibald, said, “Rav Rubin himself travels to inspect every plant which manufactures the ingredients for the products he supervises. He happened to be inspecting this plant, because he supervises a different factory which manufactures preserves with sugar produced here. After discovering that lactose was used to bleach the sugar, he gave strict instructions that the only sugar which our products may use is the one produced in India which contains no dairy ingredients.
“Sugar has always been considered a raw material that doesn’t require special supervision throughout the year. The sugar used in Israel comes from dozens of different plants and no kashrus agency bothers to check its source. For all we know, we may have all consumed this dairy sugar without being aware of it.”
The Belz Machzikei Hadas kashrus agency also confirmed that sugar is considered a foodstuff whose production doesn’t require the presence of a mashgiach. Rav Mordechai Dovid Hoffman explains, “We know of various chemicals which are used to bleach sugar, like glucose, which is cheaper than sugar. Lactose is considered relatively expensive so it wasn’t expected that plants would use it. At any rate, any ingredient besides sugar is immediately discovered in our laboratory tests, and as a matter of principle, we check the list of ingredients in sugar which a plant sends to us. We don’t allow importing it if we see anything problematic.”
The Aida Hachareidis kashrus agency said that they haven’t heard of the phenomenon, but are fully aware of the possible problems in sugar production. “We thoroughly check every sugar shipment and examine the sources of sugar in our products,” said Rav Gavriel Pappenheim. He says that every sugar package may contain up to 20 various ingredients, most of them synthetics and chemicals which are not problematic from a kashrus viewpoint.
Another problem involves forbidden oils which the plant machines may be smeared with. “We know the problems so if any problematic raw material is discovered in a certain plant’s production, we don’t permit its import.”
Rabbi Zeibald says that the new discovery will necessitate a mashgiach kashrus on site for the duration of the kosher production. “The supervision of sugar will now undergo a drastic change due to this discovery. We’re planning a new advertising campaign on the subject to prevent G-d-fearing Jews from stumbling unwittingly in serious Torah prohibitions.”
I smell a cover up by the Kosher Supervising companies.
Think about it:
Sugar form China must be cheaper, otherwise they would have opted to use domestic or other type of sugar, so we can safely assume that sugar form China is as cheap as you can get or at the very least very competitive and attractive to buy from.
This being the case, current economics dictates logically that it’s extremely highly probable that at least SOME Kosher-Certified products had contained this sugar form China.
I smell a rat now, when we see that every single Kosher Certifying company CLAIMS that they were never victimized by having accidentally used sugar form China.
It’s impossible to believe that there does not exist, not even one place that was nichshal. If if no is admitting the truth, they may all be guilty of either IGNORANCE or NEGLIGENCE or just plain LYING, to cover their shame of their failure at Kashrus Supervision.
Do you mean to tell me I don’t have to add any extra milk to my coffee.
if u want to be safe in health as well then stay away from any food and toys and medicine made in china.
For milk allergy sufferers a hechsher is a must. I hope it’s a proper hechsher. (ie: not an American one.)
As far as I know every UK sugar plant has been under supervision for years. After what went on in China with the baby milk how can they be trusted?
The mashgichim must have too much time on their hands…This is clearly a case where the chemical changes in the lactose related product are neutralized and there is no “milchig” issue involved. Rav Gedalah Rubishinsky and others have paskin on this issue in relation to pesachdice foods but the same heter applies here as well.
Any product that comes from China is inferior, Also anybody that lost their job you can also thank China.
“A large manufacturing plant in China which markets sugar to Israel under a mehadrin hechsher was discovered to have bleached its sugar with lactose, a milk derivative, which makes it cholov akum.”
Was anybody using this?
Why the hechsher?
Wouldn’t we have heard of people with allergies to milk having reactions upon ingesting this sugar?
This is a wonderful development for the frum community. Now we’ll have to refrain from eating anything with sugar. We’ll all become svelte and be zoikheh to arikhus yomim veshonim.
Come on. Sugar refining has ALWAYS used treif ingredients. In the 19th century blood was common. Until about 20 years ago, the standard ingredient was bone charcoal, from treife animals. Poskim have dealt with this for centuries, and the universally accepted psak is that none of this matters, because it’s filtered out of the finished product. So long as the end product does not contain any of the treife ingredient, it doesn’t matter that it was used.
The same is true of clear apple juice, which is clarified with gelatin. Again, all clear apple juice uses it, but it doesn’t matter because it’s filtered out.
If the lactose was used the same way, then it’s not a problem; and if the people making this fuss didn’t know about the blood and the bone charcoal then they have no business commenting on the subject in the first place.
Now if the lactose remains in the finished product, that’s another matter. But we’re told here that the sugar is tested in labs and no lactose is found.
What about US companies like Dixie Crystals? Aren’t they OU and made in Georgia or close by in a plant dedicated to making only refined sugar? Wouldn’t this be parve for US consumers?
Lactose is not available in China. They import it all and it’s very expensive. Something is very wrong with this story.
White granulated sugar has been filtered through charred cattle bones for many generations. Only in recent years have most producers gone over to chemical filters. There are vegans who are tormented by the idea that their innocent sugar may have made contact with a dead cow. For some reason frum Jews never took the issue seriously. The reality above is easily checked.
Eat Organic- I don’t get headaches anymore now that I don’t eat non- organic sugar which I suspect I had a chemical sensitivity to.
Kashrut can be complicated. I read about some apples being coated with a wax made from milk. While in the US all milk is considered to have the status of cholov yisroel(since in the US one can be sure that all milk from large commercial processors is cows milk), there might be the possibility that some apples might be milchig! Some vegetables may have a wax made from sox, which might make them kitniyos? I read that in the US all wax placed on fruit or vegetables is from a vegetable or milk source. In other countries this may not be the case though. The thought of milchig vetables might scare many. I guess if the quantity of milk products in them is so low, it might not make them milchig anyway? . Then there is the issue of carmine(a red dye made from beatles) being in lipsticks. I guess many say that lipstick needs a hechsher(also because they may be made from animal fat)? Does toothpaste need a hechsher? Lipstick and toothpaste aren’t meant to be eaten, however everyone knows that at least some will be unintentionally eaten.
Is an alcohol hand wipe with denatured alcohol SD40 considered chametz? Many toothpastes have SD38B alcohol in them. I guess they are also chometz? Most paper plates have cornstarch, so I guess they are kitniyos. Then there is the debate about whether peanuts are kitniyos, and for those who decide to use peanut oil on Pesach, how do they find peanut oil that is certified to to be chometz free? Some have gone as far to say that some tap water might not even be kosher due to microorganisms it contains. I guess waxes on fruits and vegetables are a concern for Jews outside the US. I have never seeen bags of fresh fruits or vegetables with a hechsher printed on them.
oh no… more problems in our life as if we don’t have enough…
In any case this is all nonsense, started by someone who obviously has no idea how sugar has been made for centuries.
This one should have been published before Purim, it certainly made me laugh. You will get the Nobel prize for proving that Lactose is a bleaching agent for sugar. You can ‘bleach’ your denims with it. So, how much Lactose was found on site and in what way was it supposedly used in the sugar production ?
To remove colour from sugar diatomaceous earth is used (beet sugar) or bone char (sugar cane), and it is the latter which should be avoided for kosher productions.
Also remember, that white crystalline sugar is 99.9% Sucrose and does not contain 20 ingredients! There may be 20 ingredients in the processing stage.