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New York – Major kashrus agencies in the U.S. are moving swiftly to assuage fears that kosher products will be laced with some of the toxins that have made nearly 50,000 Chinese children ill.
The agencies that certify several hundred Chinese companies are planning to require proof of verified safety programs at each of the plants, according to Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Chief Operating Officer of the Kashrus Division of the Orthodox Union (OU).
KosherToday has learned that the agencies, including the Star-K of Baltimore, that certify many companies in China, will also require kosher certification for imported Category I (no kosher certification required) ingredients, despite the fact they would not require certification in the U.S. or from other countries.
The key culprit in the tainted Chinese dairy products is melamine, the same banned substance that caused last year’s scare over toothpaste, seafood and dumplings, and was blamed for the tainted pet food that killed dogs and cats in the U.S. Kosher sources in the U.S. are confident that the U.S. regulatory agencies including the FDA “will nip any problem in the bud” before recalls become necessary. The European Union has banned Chinese baby food that contains any traces of milk and many countries throughout the world are taking steps to keep the Chinese products out.
i find it very interesting how the kashrus agencies are moving so quickly when i is not a KOSHER issue but when it came to RUBASHKIN they were taking thier jolly old time
this is ou
Brooklyn Rabbi, that’s a funny observation. The recall applies to products one would actually put in their mouths not knowing it wasn’t good for you. The other is, well you get it. Right?
FYI: I was told by some of the men in the family that saw it that there was a note on the bulletin board in our local shul indicating that some ices purchased at Wegman’s contain dairy ingredients from China and not to eat them, as they may contain melamine.
If the kashrus agencies would be doing their intended job correctly in the first place there would be no need for this action. It is also my humble opinion that no Chinese mfg. at least not at this time can’t be trusted with only spot checking – yotze v’nichnos
This is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to tainted food coming from that part of the world. It is very difficult to do proper supervision when there is a very severe language barrier and there is a motivation to turn a profit no matter what.
Category one or group 1 products are ingredientsthat do not need a hechsher. So the OU is going to cash in on the milk issue not by stopping to certify milk but by collecting money on the products that do not need a hechsher!