Update from the Guide to Chodosh

[Y. Herman]

CHODOSH NEWS AS OF DEC 2 01

It was called to my attention that some issues of the second edition of the 
Guide
that was just mailed out have several pages out of order. If you received 
one of these,
please notify me of your name and address by E mail or the Hot Line and I 
will send
you a replacement copy.

The following changes and additions to the Guide are since the printing of 
the second
edition:

KEMACH macaraoni, spaghetti and lasagna. According to the Guide, the 
Chodosh date
is Oct 1. In fact the Chodosh date is later, Nov. 1, package code Nov. 1 
2002 (1 year after
packing.)

ARROWHEAD MILLS. The following items are now from winter wheat only: Wheat
bran, wheat germ, regular whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, 
vital wheat
gluten, bulgur, puffed wheat, cracked wheat cereal. Still from spring wheat 
is puffed
kamut. Chodosh date for kamut is Sept 25, code 2681 (268=day of the year, 
1=year.)

WILLMARK makes mixes used by bakeries. The following mixes are Chodosh at this
time: donut mix, yeast raised dough. These mixes are available in Yoshon 
form only to
those establishments that reserved Yoshon before the start of the Chodosh 
season. Cake
mixes are always Yoshon.

LAKEWOOD HEIMISHE BAKE SHOP, 225 2nd St. Lakewood, (732) 905-9057. This
bakery has now provided the requested information: All challahs, rolls, 
cakes, pastries, as
well as 2 lb rye breads, white bread, whole wheat bread, club bread are all 
Yoshon.  The
kashrus hashgocho does not take responsibility for Yoshon. However, 
six-grain breads,
breads not listed above and bran muffins are NOT Yoshon.

MARTISCO, UNGER AND BENZY'S BARLEY STILL NOT RECOMMENDED AS
YOSHON, DESPITE THE CLAIMS OF MARTISCO: I have received a copy of a letter
being sent out by Martisco to "prove" that these barleys are Yoshon. The 
letter states that
all this barley comes from Yoshon crop that was sealed by Rabbi Abraham 
Juravel (of
the O-U). It invites all interested parties to check with the owner of the 
bins that contain
this barley or to go to Idaho to verify this information. The fact is that 
Rabbi Juravel did
seal bins of Yoshon barley in Idaho. However, we explained in detail in 
Preface A-3 of
the Guide, barley takes several steps between the storage bins mentioned in 
Martisco's
letter and your grocery shelf. It is first transported from the bin to a 
pearling company
that removes the outer shell of each barley kernel. This company does 
pearling of barley
from all sources, most of them being Chodosh at this time. This is also 
done in Idaho.
Then the pearled barley is shipped in bulk to Martisco in New York State 
which packs
the barley into individual 1 pound bags. We have explained to the 
representative of
Martisco and Unger that in order to be considered Yoshon throughout the 
Chodosh
season we need to have reliable mashgichim verify that Yoshon barley that 
leaves the
bins sealed by Rabbi Juravel is the only barley that is contained in the 
shipments that go
East from Idaho and are packed by Martisco. This representative explained 
to us that they
can not afford to pay for the additional hashgocho due to the small profit 
that can be
earned by selling barley. We do not insist that they hire any mashgichim 
when they can
not afford to do so. However, we do feel obligated to inform the 
Yoshon-observant
public, that so far the company has not been able to show how they verify 
the Yoshon
status of this barley in a manner that Orthodox Jews consider reliable. We 
have contacted
Benzy's which originally claimed that their barley is Yoshon based on such 
assurances
from Martisco. So far as we know, they understood our objections and are no 
longer
claiming that their barley is Yoshon. The management of Ungers refused to 
discuss this
matter with and referred the questions back to the representative that does 
not return our
numerous phone calls. (Yoshon barley seems hard to find now. People are 
urged to look
for Geffen barley that is Yoshon at least up to the packing date of Oct 15, 
code 15 OC02
or Goya barley which has a revised Chodosh date of Nov. 1, code 030501 (0=not
important, 305=day of the year, 02=year +1.)



CHODOSH NEWS AS OF 22 NOV 01

The second edition of the Guide to Chodosh for the current season has now 
been printed
and most have been mailed out to the paid subscribers. To request an 
unformatted E mail
version to be sent to you (free of charge) send a message to:

Chodosh-request at jif.org.il

On the first line of the message type:
get Guide.txt

(This only works if you copy the message exactly, including 
capitalization.) The file is
large, 200 KBytes. It will be sent to you by return E mail.

Meanwhile, attached below is the summary of changes and news taken from the
beginning of the new Guide. This contains some new information, plus all of 
the
information which I had been sending out piecemeal in earlier E mail updates.


Yoseph Herman

________________________________________________

A SUMMARY OF CHANGES FROM THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF
THE GUIDE
This is a summary of the changes that have become known since the printing 
of the last issue of the Guide.
These changes are gathered here and listed in alphabetical order, to permit 
a quick review by the reader.
The reader who is very familiar with the previous edition of the Guide may 
choose to merely review this
list of corrections. However, for the convenience of everyone, each of 
these corrections has been inserted in
the appropriate locations in the Guide below as well. In addition, in the 
body of the Guide, below, the
attention of the reader is called to each item that has been corrected or 
added in this edition by bold print
and a bullet marking next to the changed section. In a few cases where the 
changes are very lengthy, only a
brief mention is made in this summary.

IMPORTANT WARNINGS

Spicy Fries. The Kehilah Kashrus of Brooklyn points out that most pizza 
stores (at least in Brooklyn,
maybe elsewhere) sell Spicy Fries. These items may be Chodosh and should be 
avoided until further
clarification, even in stores that are otherwise fully Yoshon.

Barley Warning: Some people may be claiming that the following barleys are 
Yoshon: Unger, Benzy's
and Martisco. In fact these companies have made some efforts to produce 
barley that is Yoshon. However,
so far they have failed to explain adequately the reliability of their 
processes. Therefore, these are still not
recommended as Yoshon until further notice unless the store already had 
them in stock by Sept 1.



REVISED PROBABLE CHODOSH DATE FOR PASTA

Noodles and other pasta for which no specific Chodosh date is given can be 
assumed to be probably
Chodosh starting with a packing date of Oct 27, or to be probably Chodosh 
if purchased after Nov. 17.





FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS UNDER HASHGOCHO FOR YOSHON

Bread Basket Bakery, 703 Kings Highway, Brooklyn. All items Yoshon under 
the hashgocho of Rabbi
Gornish.
Classic Caterers, 2818 Ave. K, Brooklyn, NY 11210. (718) 692-3100. . Yoshon 
available only by
arrangements through the offices of Kehilah Kashrus.
Eli's Bagels, 58 N. Myrtle Ave, Monsey. All baked goods are Yoshon under 
hashgocho for Yoshon of Rav
Gruber. Note that this only applies to baked goods. Other items such as the 
barley, for example in cholent,
may be Chodosh.
EmJay Caterers, 2902 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11229, (718) 338-5000. 
Yoshon available only by
arrangements through the offices of Kehilah Kashrus.
Essex on Coney, Brooklyn. Corrected listing:, American side is Yoshon, 
including the noodles and pasta,
but excluding the egg rolls, hamburger and frankfurter buns and some fancy 
cakes. Under the Yoshon
hashgocho of Kehilah Kashrus. On the Chinese side, nothing (even flour) is 
Yoshon.
Gourmet on the Bay, Brooklyn, Corrected listing. Nothing is guaranteed to 
be Yoshon, unless requested
from the offices of Kehilah Kashrus.
Kol Tuv Restaurant, 118 Route 59, Monsey. All baked goods are Yoshon under 
the hashgocho of Rav
Gruber.
Mendelson's Pizza, 4418 18th Ave., Brooklyn. All items, including the 
frozen pizza, are Yoshon under the
hashgocho of the O-U.
Strauss Bakery, 5209 13th Ave., Brooklyn, (718-851-7728). All items are 
Yoshon, including the apple
strudel. Under the Yoshon hashgocho of the O-U.

FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS YOSHON WITHOUT HASHGOCHO FOR YOSHON

NOTE: The following establishments, we believe, have reliable supervision 
for kashrus. However, the
kashrus supervision does not take responsibility for Yoshon. Therefore, 
these, from the Yoshon point of
view, may be less preferred than those establishments where a qualified 
mashgiach checks the ongoing
arrangements for Yoshon, such as the establishments listed above, or listed 
in italic print in the Guide.
Circa-NY Restaurant, West 33rd St, New York, NY. Only a few items are 
Yoshon. Caution is urged since
some of the staff seems to be confused about what is Yoshon and what is not.
Gertel's Bakery, 53 Hester St. New York City. All baked items are Yoshon. 
The kashrus hashgocho does
not certify Yoshon.
Jerusalem Pizza, Monsey Glatt Shopping Center, 190 Rt 59. All items are 
Yoshon, including rolls and
sandwich breads. The kashrus hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.
Kaff Bakery 4518 Ft. Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn (718) 633-2600. All items 
made in the bakery are
Yoshon as in the past years. The kashrus hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.
King David Bakery, 77-51 Vleigh Place, Flushing, Queens, NY (718)969-6165. 
All items in the store are
Yoshon. The kashrus hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.
Kossar's Bialis, 367 Grand St., New York, NY 10002, (212) 473-4810. Baked 
products are Yoshon. The
kashrus hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.
Michyo Pita was listed in the Guide as Not Recommended for lack of 
information. The information has
now been received that all regular and whole wheat pita is Yoshon as in the 
past years. The kashrus
hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.
Ostrowizky's Heimishe Bakery, 1201 Ave J, Brooklyn. As in the past years, 
all items baked on premises
are Yoshon. The kashrus hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.
Pizza Pious, 1063 Broadway, Woodmere, LI, NY, 516-295-2050. Also at 18 East 
Park Ave., Long Beach,
516-431-1777. Pizza, rolls, garlic nuts, zeppelins and calzone are Yoshon. 
Other items may be Chodosh.
There is no hashgocho for Yoshon.
Queens Kosher Pita, 68-38 Main St. Flushing, Queens, NY (718) 263-8000. All 
items made in the store
are Yoshon, including pita, chaleh, cakes and other items. The kashrus 
hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.
Rose Kosher Bakery, 69-62 Main Street, Flushing, NY, (718-793-3282 or 
261-2654) All items baked in
the store are Yoshon. The kashrus hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.
Say Bagel N'Cheese, 1304 Ave M, Brooklyn. (718)-998-8778. All items baked 
in the store are Yoshon.
Many items that are brought in from the outside may not be Yoshon. There is 
no hashgocho specifically for
Yoshon.
Shelly's Caf‚ and Pizza, 126 Maple Ave. Spring Valley. All items are 
Yoshon. Note: Rav Bresslauer said
that while it is true that the store is Yoshon, but that his hashgocho does 
not officially extend to the Yoshon
arrangements.
Weiss Bakery, 5011 13th Ave. Brooklyn, (718) 438-0407 All items baked 
locally are Yoshon. This store
has a branch in Philadelphia. The chalehs sold in Philadelphia are Yoshon. 
Donuts, bagels and breads in
Philadelphia may be Chodosh. The kashrus hashgocho does not certify Yoshon.

ESTABLISHMENT NOT RECOMMENDED FOR YOSHON
Lebon Restaurant & Pizzeria, 980 6th Ave, New York, NY has been claiming 
that they are Yoshon. This
restaurant is NOT RECOMMENDED as Yoshon at this time.

OTHER CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS TO THE GUIDE
Arrowhead Mills Puffed Kamut. There is a mistake in Section 3.10 of the 
Guide, where it states that this
is from Yoshon spring wheat. The word "Yoshon" should have been omitted, 
since this wheat is Chodosh
starting Sept 25, as stated there.
Barbara Cereals can not be recommended because the company refuses to 
reveal the dating code system
used.
Columbia pasta from Zerega & Co., Chodosh date Oct 15. On small grocery 
size packeages, the code is
Oct 30 02 (1 year after packing). On large bulk packages, the code is 2881 
(288=day of the year, 1=year.)
Dagim frozen products are Yoshon, but without hashgocho for Yoshon.
Eden pasta code has changed. The probable Chodosh date is Oct 27, code 
03001 (0=not important,
300=day of year, 1=year.
Flour USA packs high gluten flour in 5 and 6 pound brown bags that are sold 
in grocery stores in the New
York City area. All bags that state Yoshon on the bag are Yoshon without 
hashgocho for Yoshon.
Geffen barley is Yoshon up to and including the packing date of Oct. 15, 
code: 15OC02 (15=date,
OC=October, 02=2002, one year after packing.) There is no specific 
hashgocho for Yoshon at this time.
The company is trying to find a suitable way of packing Yoshon barley 
reliably after this date. We will
issue further bulletins on this as more information becomes available.
General Mills oats Chodosh packing date is Nov. 1
Gold Medal flours from factory V. The all purpose white flour is 100% 
winter wheat. The Better For
Bread uses 50% spring wheat and the home whole wheat flour is from 100% 
spring wheat. Chodosh date
for spring wheat is Sept 15, code March 15, 2003 (18 months after packing.) 
The all purpose white home
baking flour from factory L is from 100% winter wheat. From factory D Gold 
Medal all purpose white
flour is from winter wheat. Gold Medal Whole wheat flour is from spring 
wheat. The Chodosh packing
date is Oct 15, code Apr 15 2003.
Goya barley, the revised Chodosh date is Nov. 1, code 030501 (0=not 
important, 305=day of the year,
01=year.)
Grandstand Pizza Bagel is Yoshon without special hashgocho for Yoshon.
Kemach correction:: Chow Mein noodles were supposed to be Yoshon up to the 
purchase date of Oct 31.
In fact they became Chodosh earlier, starting with the packing date of Oct 
18,  code of 181J (18=day,
1=year, J=month in alph. order.) Kemach egg noodles are Yoshon even without 
Yoshon labels. Kemach
spaghetti, macaroni and lasagna have a revised Chodosh date of Oct. 1, code 
Oct 1 2002 (1 year after
packing.)
Manischewitz pasta. The code may have changed to a date. The corrected 
probably Chodosh date is Oct
27. Old code would be 3001 (300=day of year, 1=year.) The new code may be 
Oct. 27, 2002 (1 year after
packing.) This code may be inaccurate. We are trying to clarify this.
Mehadrin Pizza, Yoshon with Yoshon label, without special hashgocho for Yoshon.
Nature Valley Granola Bars probable Chodosh date is Sept 21, code Sept 21, 
2002 (1 year after packing.
Noodles and pasta under the following brand names have a Chodosh packing 
date of Nov. 1. The code for
each is 110103xx (11=November, 01=date, 03=year+2, xx=numbers that are not 
important.) The brands are
Mueller, Pennsylvania Dutch, Ronco, R&F, Luxury, Globe A1, Anthony, Mrs. Gross.
Noodles and pasta under the following brand names have a Chodosh packing 
date of Nov. 12. The code
for each is 1316 (1=year, 316=day of the year.) The brands are Prince, 
Creamette, Gioia, Ronzoni, San
Giorgio, P&R, Light N' Fluffy, Ideal, American Beauty, Skinner.
Noodles and pasta under the following names are listed in the Guide with 
the probable Chodosh packing
date. Since, as mentioned above, the probable Chodosh date has been delayed 
to Oct. 27, the corresponding
Chodosh code for each of these has been adjusted. For specific information 
see Section 3.5 below. The
brands are: Berilla, Bordens, Bravo, ContaLuna, C-Town, De Bols, Del 
Monico, Eden, Foulds,
Goodmans, Hershey, Leonardo, Mrs. Weiss, Pasta La Bella, Perfection, 
Richfoods, Shoprite, Sysco,
Vimco, Viviano.
Paskesz cookies under the hashgocho of Rav Gruber are Yoshon even without 
Yoshon label, except for
those cookies that contain oats or graham flour. Those should not be 
purchased after Sept 17.
Pathmark noodles and pasta have a Chodosh packing date of Nov 1, code Nov 
1, 2003 (2 years after
packing.)
Pillsbury white home baking flour and bread flour in 5 pound bags for home 
baking from factory A
contain 50% spring wheat. The Chodosh packing date is Sept 18, code I1A18 
(I=Sept in alph. Order,
1=year, A=factory, 18=date.)
Quaker Unprocessed bran date code is 9 months after packing. The Fruit 
Tangy Oats is 8 months after
packing. Captain Crunch cereal date is 10 months days after packing.
Robin Hood all purpose flour from factory D has the Chodosh date of Oct 15, 
code Apr 15 03 D (18
months after packing.)
Savion croutons. The probable Chodosh date is Oct 27, code 11300 (1=year, 1 
not important, 300=day of
the year.
Sea Diamond frozen products are Yoshon, but without hashgocho for Yoshon.
Tabachnick soups the code has changed. The probable Chodosh date is Aug 26, 
code 08264 (3 years after
packing).
Unger, Benzy's and Martisco barley still can not be recommended as Yoshon 
due to lack of sufficient
supporting information from the companies. Recommended only if the store 
had it since Sept 1.
Vegichef frozen products are Yoshon, but without hashgocho for Yoshon.
Weetabix cereals were listed in the Guide under "Grainfield" and were 
supposed to use only winter wheat.
These cereals are no longer associated with Grainfield. However, most are 
still from winter wheat, where
the only possible problem is malt (see malt discussion below.) The only 
known exceptions are the Alpen
and Grain Shop cereals may be Chodosh starting the packing date of Sept. 
27, code SE27. (Information
supplied by the COR of Toronto.)

CANADIAN YOSHON SITUATION
The latest available Chodosh Bulletin of the COR of Toronto is reprinted in 
Section 4.11 below.

ANNUAL MALT REMINDER

We never found any malt manufacturer that begins to ship Chodosh malt from 
the new barley crop earlier
than Dec. 15. The malt is then shipped, Dec. 15 or later, to other 
factories that begin to use it in the end
products. Therefore, using the terminology established in the Guide, all 
malt in foods is "definitely"
Yoshon before Dec 15. Up to Jan. 15 such malt is "probably" Yoshon
The following applications of malt pose a problem of Chodosh. Malt is used 
for several purposes. Foods
using malt for flavoring or coloring should not be used if packed after Dec 
15 or at least Jan 15 since that
malt may be Chodosh. That includes cereals flavored with malt such as Corn 
Flakes and Rice Crispies, as
well as most pretzels where it is used for coloring. Beer is also included 
in the category of items which are
Chodosh because of malt. (In the case of beer, we recommend that the Dec 15 
date should be used, not the
probable date of Jan 15.)  In addition there are specialty vinegars such as 
malt vinegar, terragon vinegar and
salad vinegar which are made with high concentrations of malt.
We had urged our readers to avoid some items in the past because they may 
contain barley malt. We have
since discovered that many of these are not a problem so far as the malt 
content is concerned. This includes
baking flour that lists barley malt in the ingredients. Also permitted are 
most vinegar-based items such as
ordinary household vinegar, and condiments such as ketchup, mayonnaise, 
mustard, pickles, etc.


___________________________

To send an E mail message to the Guide, please address it to: 
yherman at earthlink.net.

Before you discontinue using an E-mail service, please unsubscribe from 
this list by
sending a message to:
chodosh-unsubscribe at jif.org.il. Then if you wish to resume receiving these 
messages
from your new service, send a message to:  chodosh-subscribe at jif.org.il.

You can request several reports by sending an E-mail message to: chodosh-
request at jif.org.il. Then in the body of the message type the command: "get" 
(without the
quotes) followed by the name of the file that you want. Type each request 
on a new line.
Make sure that you copy the file name exactly as spelled including capital 
letters. These
reports are now available:

get Guidelines.txt
This gets a long report on Guidelines to Mashgichim on Chodosh. This has 
not been
updated since last year, but is still substantially valid.

Get Guide.txt
This gets the full latest Guide to Chodosh, dated 16 Sept 01


get News.txt
This gives the latest news bulletin, such as this note.
__________________________________________
Project Chodosh is an independent activity, not affiliated with any movement
or organization. We thank the Jewish Internet Fund (JIF) for allowing us to use
their E mail distribution services. The JIF  provides free email
and web hosting to Jewish education and outreach organizations.