Update from the Guide to Chodosh

[Y. Herman]

CHODOSH BULLETIN, 12 FEB 03



The third and final issue of the Guide to Chodosh for this season has gone 
to the printer. It should be back on Feb. 13. We hope to mail the copies 
out to the paid subscribers over the next few days. We apologize if some 
will receive their copies a few days after the expiration dateof Feb 15 of 
the previous issue. Attached below is the first section of this Guide that 
summarizes all of the changes and news since the publication of the earlier 
issue. As before, the new Guide is available by E mail in two forms, either 
as a simple text file or as a formatted PDF file. Both are free of cost. 
For details on how to get these, see the instructions at the end of this 
message.








SUMMARY OF CHANGES FROM THE PREVIOUS ISSUE OF THE GUIDE



ANNUAL MALT REMINDER



Three dates are significant regarding malt.

1.        Dec. 15 is the earliest date that malt manufacturers start 
shipping out Chodosh malt to manufacturers to include in their food products.

2.        Jan. 15 is the probable packing date when Chodosh malt first 
starts being packed into packaged products.

3.        March 15 is the estimated purchase date when more than half of 
the malt containing products on the store shelves may contain Chodosh malt. 
Therefore, after March 15 it is recommended that malt problem products 
should not be purchased unless a known dating code indicates that it was 
packed before Jan. 15.

DETAILS: 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, by the terminology established in the Guide, all 
malt in foods is definitelyYoshon before Dec 15. Up to Jan. 15 such malt is 
probablyYoshon

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 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 and flavoring. 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. (We have included dating codes 
for some baking flour for those who do not want to take advantage of the 
psak that this malt may be used. Call the Hot Line for details of this 
psak.) Also permitted are most vinegar-based items such as ordinary 
household vinegar, and condiments such as ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, 
pickles, etc.

If you know the dating code for an item that has a malt problem, then you 
should avoid this item if it was packed on or after Jan. 15. If the dating 
code is not known, then we recommend that the item may be purchased up to 
Mar. 15. This year, since pesach is later on the secular calendar, it may 
be advisable to stock up on these items before Mar. 15 to last till pesach.





BARLEY UPDATE:

SOME GEFEN BARLEY NOW HAS SAME QUESTIONS AS BENZYS/MARTISCO/UNGER BARLEY

The recent issue of the Guide to Chodosh stated that Gefen barley is Yoshon 
(without hashgocho for Yoshon) up to the packing date of Sept 23. (The code 
on Gefen barley is one year after packing with the exception of Sept 23 
where the code was mistakenly printed as Sept 23 01 instead of Sept 23 03.) 
Since then there were additional packings of barley by Gefen, such as in 
November and later. These later packings have the same halachic questions 
as we raised earlier regarding the barley under the labels of Benzy, 
Martisco and Unger. Namely, there is a source of Yoshon barley that has 
been reserved for use of the packing companies. However there is much other 
barley available in the marketplace which is mostly Chodosh. In all these 
cases, there is only the unsupervised word of the gentiles packing the 
individual barley packages to guarantee that the reserved Yoshon supply was 
used and not the easily available Chodosh supply. In this respect, the post 
Sept 23 packings of Gefen are the same as Benzy, Martisco and Unger and 
raise the same halachic questions. One important difference between Gefen 
on one hand and Benzy/Martisco/Unger on the other hand is the availability 
of information. Gefen has always been completely cooperative, responding 
fully to requests for clarification and further information. On the other 
hand, Martisco who does the packing for the other 3 brands of barley, has 
been unwilling to release date codes and other information. Furthermore, 
the rabbi who issued a letter assuring that these 3 brands of barley are 
fully Yoshon has never returned our repeated phone calls and faxes asking 
for more information. Free flow of information is crucial in kashrus in 
general and Yoshon in particular. Consult your own Rav or posek regarding 
barley by Benzy, Martisco, Unger, and now about the recent packings of Gefen.



YOSHON STANDARDS: The recent issue of the O-U Daf HaKashrus (Jan. 03) 
details the standards the O-U uses on items labeled O-U Yoshon. 
Essentially, the newsletter states that the O-U applies the strictest 
standards that Yoshon-observant consumers are likely to require. For 
example, all equipment used in manufacturing Yoshon must be either used 
only for Yoshon, or be left idle for at least 24 hours since the previous 
Chodosh production. We welcome this clear statement, as well as the 
strictness of the applied standard. We call on other hashgocho 
organizations and individual mashgichim to share with us and the public the 
standards that they apply to Yoshon items under their hashgocho.



WARNING ON SPELT AND RYE PRODUCTS: Recently there has been an influx of 
kosher spelt and rye products from overseas and Canada. The Guide has 
stated over the years that spelt and rye (but not rye bread) are always 
Yoshon in the USA. We need to emphasize that this is known to be true only 
for grain and items produced in the USA. This assurance does not hold for 
items produced outside of the USA, for which we have no information. It is 
possible that some of these that are sold in the USA may be Chodosh. We 
thank Rabbi Israelowitz for pointing this problem out to us.





OTHER ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS TO THE GUIDE



ADIRIM pasta will be Yoshon up to pesach, without hashgocho for Yoshon.

AMNON frozen falafel balls are Yoshon.

ARROWHEAD MILLS whole wheat bread flour is from winter wheat.

BEECHNUT baby foods code update. For example for the sample code of 
2907MAY04, look only at the first 4 characters. 2=year, 
9=month(1=Jan&9=Sept, X=Oct, Y=Nov, Z=Dec), 07 day of the year. For oats 
and barley the code would be Sept 14=2914& For wheat Sept 11, code 2911&

CANADA. The latest Chodosh Bulletin of the COR of Toronto can be found in 
Section 4.13 of this Guide.

DEL DAVID pasta is NOT Yoshon, according to the Star-K.

FLOUR USA. Caution, the high gluten flours in brown paper bags made by this 
company may be Chodosh at this time. Those bags that contain Chodosh flour 
have the Yoshon label crossed out. Always check the label on the bags.

GENERAL MILLS cereal Lucky Charm is NOT KOSHER. The Guide does state that 
we take no responsibility for kashrus. Nevertheless, we try not to include 
items that are known not to be kosher. This cereal should be deleted.

GOLD MEDAL flour with a factory code of GF has a Chodosh packing date of 
Nov. 15. For white home baking flour and bread flour the Chodosh code is 
May 15 04 GF (18 months after packing.) For whole wheat flour the code is 
May 15 03GF (6 months after packing.)

HADDAR. According to the mashgiach Haddar products should be assumed to be 
possibly Chodosh, unless there is a Yoshon label or unless listed otherwise 
in this Guide.

HECKERS AND CERESOTA whole wheat flour. The Guide states that the date on 
the bags is 12 months after packing. We have received a call about a bag of 
such flour that had a date that was more than 12 months after the current 
date. The company states that that code must have been a factory error 
since their specifications still code for a date that is 12 months for 
whole wheat flour. The information in the Guide is correct.

KEMACH update.  All Kemach cereals dated Jan 04 or later may have Chodosh 
malt.  The white baking flour (not bread flour which uses stored Yoshon 
malt) dated Jan 13 04 or later may have Chodosh malt. (However, note that 
many poskim allow baking flour to be used if it has Chodosh malt in it.) 
Bread sticks have no malt and are Yoshon. (The bread sticks packed earlier 
that state malt in the ingredients use Yoshon malt. The newly packed bread 
sticks will be made without added malt.) Crackers containing malt may have 
Chodosh malt starting with the code 1P023N (1P=not important, 023=day of 
the year, N=year, 2003). Other items: Regular egg noodles (in 12 ounce 
packages) purchased up to Jan 31 are Yoshon even without a Yoshon label. 
However, after Feb. 1 look for a Yoshon label. The vegetable soup mix is 
only Yoshon up to Sept 24,  code of 2674 (267=day of year, 4=year+2).

KITOV products should be assumed to be possibly Chodosh, according to the 
company.

LANDAU whole wheat pasta is Chodosh at this time. No code given.

LE CHAIM FRUIT BARS. The Guide states that they are all Yoshon under the 
hashogocho of the Mechon LHoroah of Monsey. The Mechon has asked that we 
warn the public that the latest packing of these candy bars may be Chodosh. 
The Chodosh date for these bars is Dec 16, code 2350&(2=year, 350=day of 
the year, later digits can be ignored.) Le Chaim Potato Crisps (like 
Pringles) is Yoshon. It contains no flour. The flour listed in the 
ingredients is by error.

LIEBERS cereals. All cereals containing oats or wheat germ should be 
considered Chodosh now. No codes given. Malt in cereals is Yoshon up to the 
package code of Jan 01 04. Liebers potato chips and corn chips are Yoshon. 
Soups, soup mixes, crackers and cookies (without oats) and bread crumbs 
continue to be Yoshon till pesach. All under the hashgocho of Rav Weissmandl.

MANISCHEWITZ Tam Tam crackers are Yoshon under the O-U hashgocho, including 
the malt, at least up to the packing date of Feb. 28. Manischewitz pasta 
has the Chodosh date of Oct 17, code 2902 (290=day of year, 2=year).

MANNA frozen pizza is Yoshon under the hashgocho of the Star-K. This is 
stated in the Guide, but was hidden there in the earlier editions of the 
Guide..

MAYPO oats Chodosh date is Sept 21 (Note earlier than the date in the 
Guide!), code SEPT 21 2003 (1 year after packing). Maypo farina is Yoshon.

MRS. SILBER, 6 Maple Leaf Road Monsey sells 3 kinds of whole wheat flour. 
At this time these are Yoshon without hashgocho for Yoshon. They may be 
Chodosh in the future, ask.

PRINGLE potato chips. The code in the Guide is correct. Ignore the Best if 
used bydate. Look for a sequence of numbers preceded by LOTor Land use the 
first 4 digits only for your code.

SOUTH AFRICA. Up to date Yoshon information is available from the UOS, The 
Union of Orthodox Synagogues of South Africa in Johannesburg. Their Yoshon 
Bulletin may be accessed on the Web at the address 
<http://www.uos.co.za/>www.uos.co.za.  Look for the Kashrus Guide. Under 
that look for Yoshon Update. You can also call them at 011-27-11-485-4865.

UNGER. , according to the mashgiach, Unger products should be assumed to be 
probably Chodosh unless listed otherwise in this Guide. (See a separate 
discussion of Unger barley above.)





UPDATES ON RESTAURANTS AND OTHER FACILITIES



ESSEX ON THE CONEY, 1359 Coney Island Ave, Brooklyn. The American side is 
Yoshon, including noodles and pasta, but excluding the egg rolls, hamburger 
and frankfurter rolls, baguettes, fries, square knishes, and fancy cakes. 
Also excluded are anything that is fried. For the Chinese side, consult the 
mashgichim Kehilah Kashrus and the Vaad Hakashrus of Flatbush.

GOURMET ON THE BAY, 8501 Bay Pkwy in Brooklyn. Revised listing: Everything 
is Yoshon besides barley, couscous and anything made with Chinese eggroll 
skins. Under the hashgocho of Kehilah Kashrus.

KOSHER BITE restaurant, 6309 Reisterstown Road,  Baltimore. Not all items 
are Yoshon. Yoshon is only available under the hashgocho of the Star K on 
some items and only on request. Ask at the restaurant.

LANDAU SUPERMARKET, 4510 18th Ave, Brooklyn, 718-633-0633. All items in the 
bakery and takeout sections are Yoshon. No hashgocho for Yoshon.

MATAMIM CATERERS, 4302 16th Ave, Brooklyn, 718-435-8556. Mrs. Resnick. All 
catered items are Yoshon. No hashgocho for Yoshon.



****END OF SUMMARY OF CHANGES***





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Y. Herman

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