For the year 5773 ( 12-13) ולסכ עשת"ג. Price: $10.00

Transcription

1 סב"ד For the year 5773 ( 12-13) ולסכ עשת"ג Price: $10.00 (This booklet is the last booklet for this season. It by itself costs $10. For this booklet, plus updates mailed to your home within the US, the total cost is $14. For other destinations, please see Preface.) By Yoseph Herman with the assistance of C. Rosskamm Revised 4 Dec 12 1

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE TO PART ONE OF THE GUIDE TO CHODOSH... 4 A.1 Our Apologies To Our Readers and tentative plans for next season... 4 A.2 NEW GUIDELINES FOR THIS YEAR... 4 A.3 Reviewing Guidelines for the Guide To Chodosh... 5 B. Additional Copies of the Guide... 5 B.1 Additional copies by US mail-credit card subscriptions only... 5 B.3 How to Order the Guide to Chodosh to Be Sent To You by E Mail... 6 C. How to Contact Us For More Information by Telephone, Fax, or , 6 C.1 The Telephone Hot Line... 6 C.2 Faxes... 8 C.3 Internet and D. This Guide is incomplete!... 9 E. Acknowledgements... 9 G. Words of Caution to Mashgichim...10 PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CHODOSH An Introduction to Chodosh The definition of Chodosh Which foods may have a Chodosh problem? Basics of the Yoshon Kitchen General rules about foods that are Yoshon or Chodosh Storing Yoshon-Avoiding worm problems OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION Glossary of important terms used in this Guide Yoshon categories used in this Guide Chodosh cutoff dates based on harvest data The local bakery problem Food produced in Israel How to tell if a food is Yoshon? Packaged foods Brief overview Yoshon labels and kashrus hashgochos printed on the same package Policy regarding malt Bakeries, restaurants, pizza shops, catering halls and similar establishments producing ready-to-eat foods Policy regarding spicy fries Other warnings regarding restaurants, pizza shops, etc Yoshon claims at catering halls and other establishments Baked Products Cakes, cookies and crackers Pretzels and Potato Chips Rice cakes Melba Toast Ice Cream Cones Matzos Spelt baked products Noodles and other pasta Regular noodles, pasta, mandlen and croutons Chow mein noodles Spelt pasta Home baking products All purpose white flour Whole wheat flour High gluten or bread flour Spelt flour Cake and other mixes Baking sprays Yeast and other food ingredients Home cooking Barley Bread and corn flake crumbs and matzo meal Soy, teriyaki and other sauces Vinegar and vinegar-based condiments Cereals and other grain products Breakfast cereals Spelt Bulgur, cracked wheat, kamut and cous cous Prepared foods Frozen and other packaged foods Airline, hospital and other ready to eat meals Soups and soup mixes Other mixes Beverages Beer Other alcoholic beverages Non-alcoholic beverages Baby foods Candies Food ingredients Malt, barley malt Vital wheat gluten Food starch, wheat starch, other ingredients Vitamins Professional bakery flour and other bakery ingredients ESTABLISHMENTS AND SERVICES Metropolitan New York City Area... 49

3 12.1 Brooklyn and Manhattan and Long Island Catering and takeout Wholesale bakeries Retail bakeries Restaurants and pizza shops Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills, Other Queens and Long Island Five Towns, Long Island Monsey Upstate New York-Catskills New Jersey Other USA Cities Baltimore Boston area California Cleveland area Chicago Detroit, Oak Park, Southfield MI Florida Washington DC, Silver Springs area 69 Section 13.9 Connecticut Israel Food exported by Israel Food imported to Israel Elsewhere in the world Antwerp, Belgium Canada England Johannesburg, South Africa Melbourne, Australia ************************************* *********************** INDEXES לעילוי נשמות ר י ומ י א' ר ןב שו י' ע ה מ "ה ואמי מורתי בריינדל בת ר' ע יולה איתו י "ה קונטרס רמ הבשיה שאר ן מל ם קומע ה ות י גרב שדקומ הזנו ורבנו, הרב הגאון יעקב קמנצקי זצוק"ל. רשא האיר את עינינו והדריכנו בכל שטחי חיינו וענפיהם. קונרס זה לא היה יוצא לאור ולא היה בר-ותצע ילב אמיק הבוטה ודודעו ידמתה. ומכ-כן מוקדש הקונטרס לזכר נשמת מורנו ורבנו, הגאון מרן הרב משה פיינשטיין זצוק"ו הו לנתו סיעו שא תצע ורודסל. Note: The above dedication to Reb Yaakov ZT"L and Reb Moshe ZT"L is an expression of gratitude for the support and advice that they gave to the publication of this Guide. It should not imply that they gave any haskomo to this Guide or that they paskened that everyone must avoid eating all foods that the Guide labels "Chodosh". NOTICE WOULD YOU EAT MEAT OR CHICKEN WITHOUT ANY HASHGOCHO? IF NOT, WHY WOULD YOU EAT YOSHON WITHOUT ANY HASHGOCHO? The Guide to Chodosh recommends that before you purchase Yoshon from bakeries, pizza shops, restaurants and similar establishments and before you purchase packaged products, make sure that there is a hashgocho that takes responsibility for certifying that it is Yoshon. (The Guide does not provide any such hashgocho.) That is why the Guide only lists establishments and items with such hashgocho. (The exceptions are items listed with category These are items where, by using the dating codes, we can determine that the food was. ד packed before the beginning of the Chodosh harvest as given by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. If such items are purchased with date codes earlier than the cutoff given in this Guide, then you can be sure that they are Yoshon, even though there is no specific Yoshon hashgocho on such items. ) 3

4 PREFACE TO PART ONE OF THE GUIDE TO CHODOSH A.1 Our Apologies To Our Readers and tentative plans for next season In the years prior to the current one, we published 3 full issues of the Guide to Chodosh. The first one was put out shortly after the Chodosh season would start. It provided guidance for the Yoshon-observant public from the onset. However it contained many tentatitve items, using assumptions which could be assumed to be adequate for so early in the season. However, we found that many people only acquired the first issue of the Guide and would go through the entire season on outdated estimates. This year we swung too far to the opposite direction. We decided to publish information only after it has been confirmed to the best of our ability. We did not make a realistic estimate of how long such cofirmations would take. As a result, the first issue, the Preliminary Guide, only came out in early November, leaving people without the starting guidance that they need and were used to. We tried to alleviate the effects of this delay by sending a preliminary bulletin by mail to the subscribers and by . However, that was really inadequate. People innundated the Chodosh Hot Line with questions, sometimes over 50 questions per day. We apologize for the inconvenience this misjudgement resulted in. We will try next year, ב "דס, to make a better effort to find a happy median. Our tentative plan is to publish again a preliminary Guide, but much earlier at the start of the season which would would be as comprehensive as in earlier years, based on the same degree of assumptions. However, this would only be made available to subscribers or by , not sold locally. This will make sure that all corrections and updates will be received by those who got the first Guide. Then later in the season, presumably around November like this year, We hope to publish a new Guide with verified and corrected information. A.2 NEW GUIDELINES FOR THIS YEAR OATS IN CEREALS: Until now, the Guide recommended the default cutoff packing dates for all food items containing oats, of Jul 26. This was a chumra based on the fear that the new Chodosh oats may be packed very shortly after the harvest of the new crop has started. Now the O-U has informed us that their official professional opinion is that no Chodosh harvested oats went into any CEREAL product before the packing date of Sept. 30. The exception is Quaker cereals made in Canada, where this earliest packing date is Sept 23. The Guide will henceforth recommend Sept 30 as the effective Chodosh packing date for all companies, except when told otherwise. The O-U has also verified that for oats in General Mills cereals, including all types of Cheerios, has the Chodosh packing date of Oct. 31. This assurance of the O-U is only for cereal products. For other items, such as oat-meal cookies, we still recommend a Chodosh packing date of Jul 26. For dating codes for specific cereals, see the cereal section, Section 8 below. WHEAT STARCH: Wheat starch is used in many cereals, some cookies and other products. In the past we assumed that wheat starch can be made from spring wheat as well as winter wheat. Therefore, we advised that one should be machmir and assume that starting with a packing date shortly after the start of the spring wheat harvest, all wheat starch may be Chodosh. However, now we had been advised that it should be permitted to be maikil and assume that that all wheat starch is Yoshon. This assumption is based on the following arguments: (1) There is no advantage in making wheat starch from spring wheat over winter wheat. (2) About 70% of all wheat grown in the USA is winter wheat. This makes winter wheat certainly the rov of all wheat available. It also makes winter wheat cheaper. (3) We apply the sfek sfeika of the Rema since the wheat starch could be from last year. Even if it where freshly manufactured, it is more likely to come from winter wheat which is Yoshon. We consulted the following Rabbonim Shlita who agreed that since it is not possible to clarify the matter beyond what is written above, that it is justified to be makil on wheat starch. (Names in alphabetical order) Harav Hagoan Yisroel Belsky Shlita, Harav Hagoan Moshe Heinemann Shlita, Harav Hagoan Shmuel Kaminezky Shlita and Harav Hagoan Shlomo Miller.

5 This will be the policy of the Guide in the future. For those who wish to be machmir, the chumra packing date for wheat starch would be Aug 9. A.3 Reviewing Guidelines for the Guide To Chodosh When the printing of the Guide first began, we initiated the practice of gathering data by consulting companies over the telephone. This was done at that time under the advice of Gedolim ZT L. This approach made sense at that time since the concept of Chodosh and Yoshon were not known to the Gentile public, and Chodosh was not a significant factor for business profits. Therefore, the principle of mesiach lefi tuma was deemed applicable. In the recent past, it has become increasingly obvious that this principle may no longer be applicable, when Chodosh and Yoshon are recognized by Jew and Gentile alike, to be important in their business. Therefore, following the revised guidelines formulated by the Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbonim and Mashgichim Shlita whom we consulted, we made the following changes to the Guide, starting the last three years: We will only list products and establishments as being Yoshon, if they either have a hashgocho for Yoshon, or we can determine from independent sources that they probably are Yoshon (for example those packed before the Chodosh harvest started). (See Sections 2.2 and 2.3.) Consequently, we no longer list in the Guide any packaged items, or bakery, pizza shops, or other establishments, whether run by Jew or Gentile, unless they have certification as being Yoshon. (Note that the Guide does not provide any hashgochos on its own. We merely list the hashgocho chosen by each food producer.) We no longer list any wheat product as being Yoshon based solely on the testimony of the manufacturer that it is made with winter wheat, unless verified by an independent source. We no longer rely on Chodosh starting dates provided by individual manufacturers, unless confirmed by a mashgiach. When such confirmation is not available, we are using general Chodosh dates deduced by the Guide from data supplied by the US Department of Agriculture, and other independent sources. All packaged food items not under hashgocho will be listed as category ד subject to Chodosh cutoff dates, only if that can be based upon U. S. government supplied or other reliable data. Restaurants, pizza shops, catering establishments, etc. will not be listed in the Guide at all unless they have hashgocho for Yoshon. B. Additional Copies of the Guide Copies of the Guide can be ordered by US mail, can be purchased locally in several cities or can be downloaded by computer . How to order the Guide to be mailed to you. Where to buy the Guide locally B.1 Additional copies by US mail-credit card subscriptions only To request literature. Copies of this Guide are available by subscription. This issue is the only full issue for this year. A subscription of $14 will pay for this issue and future updates to be sent to you by US mail to anywhere in the USA. For overseas, including Israel the cost of the this issue and future updates to be mailed is US $20. For Canada, it is US $18. It is preferred that you use the credit card method of payment Please call and record your full credit card information. However, if you need to use a check, please make out the check to Project Chodosh and mail it to Project Chodosh, c/o Y. Herman, 20 Sylvan Rd, Monsey, NY B.2 Purchase of Guide from Local Distributors In a departure from earlier years, this is the first and only issue that is available for purchase from the local distributors. The first issue, the Preliminary Guide, was only mailed to paid subscribers. This issue costs $10. To receive updates by US mail within the US the cost is $4 additional. Please use the credit card method of payment Please call and record your full credit card information. (If you are just ordering the updates, please be sure that in your recording you specify that you want only to be charged $4 5

6 for the updates.) Cash may be paid at the local distributors. Checks should only be used as a last resort if credit/debit cards are really not available. However, if you need to use a check, please make out the check to Project Chodosh and mail it to Project Chodosh, c/o Y. Herman, 20 Sylvan Rd, Monsey, NY The following is a list of distributors where this issue may be purchased. Baltimore: Dr. Avrohom Nelkin, 3831 Labyrinth Road, (410) The Guide will be sold from the home. Brooklyn: Rabbi Zev Katz, 1515 East 13 th Street. Copies of the Guide will be stored in a self-service box near the front door. The $10 per copy may be pushed in through the mail slot at the bottom of the front door. Chicago: Rabbi Shmuel Yehudah Levine, 5118 North Drake, Chicago, (773) Guide will be sold from a self-service box on the stoop, with money to be put into slot in door. Lakewood: Rabbi Yoseph Greenfeld, 1172 Tiffany St., (732) Someone will be available after 2:30 p.m. Also Rabbi Shimon Greenfeld, 1 Kew Gardens Drive, (732) Also Rabbi Aaron Quinn, th St, ( ). Monsey: Yoseph Herman, 20 Sylvan Road. Copies of the Guide will be stored in a self-service box near the front door. The $10 per copy for the this issue may be pushed in through the mail slot at the bottom of the front door. Yerushalaim: Rabbi Yekusiel Herman, R Chizkiyohu Shabtai 11/17 Ramot, Yerushalaim (02) Also Mrs. Chaya Rosskamm 10 R Even Haazel 12/2, Yerushalaim (02) B.3 How to Order the Guide to Chodosh to Be Sent To You by E Mail The Guide by You can order the Guide to be sent to you by E mail, free of charge. The guide is available only in PDF form. To order the PDF version of the Guide by E mail DO NOT send any message to me at yherman@earthlink.net DO send a message to either: chodosh@sefer.org or chodosh@moruda.com You will get the Guide back by automatic response, via . This year the procedure must be somewhat different from the earlier years. You will not get any response if you send a blank message as in the past. You must include a meaningful message in the subject field and a few meaningful words in the body of the message. No human will read those words. However it will prevent the spam filter of the sefer.org or the moruda.com site from blocking the message you sent. Unfortunately, this year there seems to be about 6% failure rate for such requests. When one of the sites does not respond even to this modified form of request, send to the other site. The reason for this is not yet understood. If this failure happens to you, please try again. However, check your spam filters to make sure that the Guide is not trapped there. C. How to Contact Us For More Information by Telephone, Fax, or E- mail, C.1 The Telephone Hot Line NOTE: Some telephone services, including some long-distance calling card services (such as Kirby, Cucumber, Net2Phone, etc) that use VoIP technology, do not always send out single button pushes properly. If pushing a button does not work, please try pushing several times with a 1 second pause between pushes. Inroduction to the Chodosh Hot Line 6

7 How to use the Chodosh telephone Hot Line for questions and messages The Chodosh Hot Line is available 24 hours a day by dialing (718) with a touch tone telephone. By following voice instructions, you will be able to do any of the following by pushing the appropriate buttons: Leave a recording of a question or comment that you may have. Call back after 11:00 am New York time, to possibly hear a recording of an answer to your question. We will keep recorded answers to specific questions on the system for about 7 days. Hear a recording of new preliminary Chodosh developments (subject to change) before they are printed in updates of this Guide. You are encouraged to call back frequently to hear such news items. Hear a recording of Chodosh Guide and Bulletin publication schedules and ordering information. A Guide to the Chodosh Hot Line The Chodosh Hot Line provides a maze of menus, each with a rather long voice prompt. You can save much time if you realize that it is not necessary to listen to the voice instructions before pushing the numbers of your choice. If you know what numbers to push, press the numbers of your choice as soon as the first voice message begins. We hope that you will find the following Hot Line Voice Menu Guide an aid in the efficient use of the Hot Line: Special Keys: Pressing the * key always takes you back to the previous menu where you can press any other key combination as soon as the voice message starts. The use of the # key gives you a summary of which telephone buttons to press to control the playback of recorded messages. Those commands are given here: 1-go back 15 seconds, 3-go forward 15 seconds 2-pause the play back. Push 2 a second time to resume 4-go back 1 minute, 6-go forward 1 minute 7-go back 5 minutes, 9-go forward 5 minutes 5-make the playback louder, 8-make the playback quieter The Hot Line consists of a number of mail boxes each one is assigned a unique mail box number. After you dial the Hot Line at To hear the latest Chodosh news summary: press 1. After you pressed 1, you will be given a choice of selecting which news you want to listen to by pressing additional numbers. To record a message or a question: press 2. Then press any key at the end of your message for additional options, or just hang up your phone. If you make a note for yourself of the date and time of your recording, it will help you get to your answer more quickly, as explained below. To hear recorded answers to questions called in earlier call back after 11 am New York time and press 3. Thereafter you will Press 1 for answers recorded on Sunday morning Press 2 for answers recorded on Monday morning Press 3 for answers recorded on Tuesday morning Press 4 for answers recorded on Wednesday morning Press 5 for answers recorded on Thursday morning Press 6 for answers recorded Erev Shabbos morning You can save yourself a lot of telephone time by following the Hot Line Menu printed here and by not waiting for each lengthy recorded instruction on the Hot Line. For example, suppose you call back to hear answers to Chodosh questions that were recorded on Thursday morning. Then, as soon as the first recorded message starts to play, you immediately should press 3 to get to the menu to choose the day of the week to listen to. Suppose you want Thursday, you should press 5 but, by mistake, you pressed 4 instead of 5. As soon as the recording starts, you recognize your error. You should press * to go back to the previous menu. Then again press 5, the correct number for Thursday. When the answer recording starts, use the Special Keys to skip forward or backwards to locate the time that your message was recorded by you. This way you can navigate through all of the options of the Hot Line without wasting time listening to voice instructions. 7

8 In general the recordings of answers may be quite long. If you recall the date and time when you recorded your question, you may skip quickly to your answer. To do this, use the control commands detailed above under the heading Special Keys. When we record our answers, each answer is preceded by the day and time that the question was called in. You should use the forward skip keys (3=15 seconds, 6=1 minute, 9=five minutes) to skip forward to get near the time of your recorded question. If you went too far forward, use the appropriate back-up keys (1, 4, 7) to back up and get as close as possible to your answer. BACK AT THE MAIN MENU: To hear how to get the Chodosh Guides press 4. Thereafter for information about Where to buy in each city press 1 How to order by US mail press 2 How to communicate with the Guide and get reports by computer E mail press 3 BACK AT THE MAIN MENU: How to send faxes, press 6. C.2 Faxes Faxes People sometimes send us questions by fax. Normally we do not have the time to respond to those questions by sending a fax in response. To ask questions, your best approach is to leave a voice-recorded message on the Hot Line and calling back for a recorded answer. The second best method is to send us E mail. (See C.3 below.) However, if you have the need to send us a fax, please use the full-time, dedicated fax number: However, please note that faxes sent to the Hot Line number may not be seen for many days after receipt, and usually will not be returned by fax Updates and Guides by computer E mail C.3 Internet and It is possible to send E mail directly to the Guide by addressing it to yherman@earthlink.net. As an additional service, the Guide operates a computer -based mailing list dedicated to Chodosh and Yoshon. This mailing list is kept private, used only by the Guide to Chodosh and not given to any other person or organization. Urgent news and other information is sent at regular intervals automatically to all those on the list. There is no charge for this service. Those who have access to can join this group by sending a message to: chodosh-subscribe@jif.org.il To discontinue the service, send a message to chodosh-unsubscribe@jif.org.il This group is serviced by a computer-based Majordomo program. This program should send you immediate confirmation of your E mail list subscription, plus a list of further instructions. Those who subscribe will get fast notification of important new developments, before it is possible to print them in corrected Guides. Those who receive such E mail bulletins should note that they normally contain preliminary information, subject to change. It should be noted that in past years we advised that people send a blank message to the address given. However, last year we were advised that some services do not send out such blank . You may have to include a dummy message. However, it is only relevant that the message should have your own address as the return address. Please note that all requests to join to the mailing list should be sent to the chodosh-subscribe address listed above. All other correspondence should go to yherman@earthlink.net. Do not send mail to 8

9 the yherman address to ask to subscribe to this free service. You should subscribe automatically by sending E mail directly to the E mail address given above. It is also very important that you do us the favor of unsubscribing yourself before discontinuing an E mail service or before you allow your free E mail service to be discontinued due to lack of use.. Guide will be updated. Keep up with changes! Our thanks to these people D. This Guide is incomplete! This Guide summarizes the information that is known at the time of its publication. As changes and new information becomes available, corrections and additions must be made. For this purpose, we updates to the Guide. Those who subscribed (see above) will (bli neder) get such updates and the pre-season bulletin to be published next summer. In addition, important Chodosh news and changes are announced, as they become known on the Chodosh Hot Line. Alternatively, they can add their addresses to the automated computer mailing list to receive corrections via E mail. For information about the Hot Line and E mail, see above. E. Acknowledgements The author thanks the following for their ongoing support of the Chodosh Project. Rav Avrohom Greenfeld. Rav Greenfeld has been a behind-the-scenc support of the Guide to Chodosh from its first day. He has acted as an advisor and sounding board. He has proof read each and every issue of the Guide before publication. He helped formulate and submit halachic questions to rabbonim and other poskim. The Guide would not have matured to its current state without his ongoing support. Mrs. Chaya Rosskamm is the newest member of our team who joined as a research assistant.. Since she joined the project about 1 ½ years ago, she has been helping substantially with the much of the research, including helping to contact companies and mashgichim and updating information. She has also managed the handling of credit-card subscriptions. At this point, it is hard to imagine how the Guide project could continue without her able contributions. Mrs. Rosskamm joined the other participants of the Chodosh Project who have contributed significantly over the past years: Mrs. Ahuva Cohen of Kew Gardens, NY has managed the subscription department of the Chodosh Project for many years. Gross Printing of New Square, NY has provided the services of their state-of-the-art computerized printing equipment for many years. They take two computer files, one of the Guide and the other of the address labels. Then they print, staple, fold, and trim the Guide booklets, print on the addresses, apply stamps and mail the finished booklets. They do this flawlessly for more than 2000 copies, usually in less than 2 days after receiving the job. Xchange Telecom of Brooklyn, NY has provided the telephone Hot Line service that is the backbone of the daily support the Guide tries to provide to the public. Their facility provides incoming phone lines that are never busy, and a message system that callers can manipulate for their convenience. Rabbi Yaakov Menken and his Jewish Internet Fund whose jif.org.il computers, located in Israel, are used to distribute bulletins throughout the season to a list of more than 2100 people. Rabbi Yitzchak Gale who lets us use his sefer.org computer and Mr. Maurice Mizrahi his moruda.com computer, to allow people to download the Guide by the means of an request. Those who distribute the Guide in local cities, including Dr. & Mrs Nelkin in Baltimore, Rabbi and Mrs. Katz in Brooklyn, Rabbi & Mrs. Levine in Chicago, the two Rabbis Greenfeld, Rabbi Quinn and their wives in Lakewood, and Rabbi and Mrs. Yekusiel Herman and Rabbi and Mrs. Rosskamm in Yerushalaim. 9

10 Finally we acknowledge the talmidim of Harav Hagoan Shmuel Faivelson Shlita, who shared with us a starting file of Yoshon information that they compiled while they were at Mesifta Beth Shraga, in Monsey. G. Words of Caution to Mashgichim This section is addressed to mashgichim who are giving hashgocho for Yoshon. Some may not be aware of all areas that need to be checked to make sure that all ingredients are Yoshon. It is not enough to only check on the Yoshon status of the wheat flour that is being used. The following is a checklist of some recent problems that have been reported that should be checked by the mashgiach. Wheat starch: For revised guidelines for wheat starch, please see Preface A.2 above Dough Conditioners and mixes: Many bakeries use dough conditioners in some baked product. These must be checked to be sure they are Yoshon. All prepared mixes should also be checked. Vital wheat gluten when used should be checked for Yoshon. Ingredients: Any ingredient that has a chometz problem, in theory may also have a Chodosh problem and needs to be investigated. When using ingredients certified as Yoshon by other mashgichim, check the standards used by the hashgocho. For example, some mashgichim may rely on the word of the producer of the product without checking all the details themselves. Package control: Systems should be set up to avoid mixups of Yoshon and Chodosh products in similar containers. Such mixups have been reported when workers mix up bags of Chodosh and Yoshon flour, sometimes even at the distributor level. This has also been a problem in catering establishments that produce Yoshon and non-yoshon affairs on different days or in different halls on the same day. Dating codes or hashgocho symbols should be checked. Matzos and matzo meal have always been assumed to be Yoshon. However, some matzo meal, such as used in some gefilte fish, is really made from ground up bread. The mashgiach must make sure that the bread this comes from is Yoshon. There is also a matzo meal made by Kerry that is made from bread. Pizza shop and restaurant problems: All fried foods may have problems of Chodosh if they are fried in the same oil and fryer that are used for spicy fries that contain flour in the ingredients. In addition, some pizza shops line their ovens with semolina flour. Such flour is usually Chodosh. Other materials should be substituted, for example potato starch. Check utensils that may have been used for Chodosh. Is koshering required after use for Chodosh? Bagel shop problems: Some bagel shops have been selling Yoshon regular bagels from Yoshon flour and Chodosh bagels from Chodosh whole wheat flour. They did not realize the halachic problems posed by using the same boiler to cook up the Chodosh and Yoshon bagels prior to baking. Sometimes both types of bagels were cooked even the same time! Caterer cautions: Breads, challehs, rolls, frankfurter and hamburger buns, bagels, wraps, frozen doughs and blankets, some cakes and cookies, ice cream cakes should all be from sources under hashgocho for Yoshon. Sometimes the same company will produce both Chodosh and Yoshon. For example, 6-grain or whole grain breads often are not Yoshon. Bread crumbs must come from Yoshon sources. Corn flake crumbs contain malt which may be Chodosh if packed after Dec. 15. Flour used as a thickening agent in soups may be Chodosh. Wheat germ, and other wheat products should be checked 10

11 Oats based ingredients A mashgiach allowed Kemach Yoshon to be printed on a label on an item where the main ingredient was Yoshon wheat flour. He did not pay attention to the fact that the ingredients also included oats that may be Chodosh. Flavoring additives using wheat or malt products. For example, wheat flour is included in the ingredients of a red pepper spice mixture used to flavor some wraps. Barley for example used by caterers in soups or cholent. Spelt or rye products. If made in the USA, these are Yoshon. From other countries they have to be checked out. Tuna fish mixes and salads used by restaurants may contain bread crumbs or flour. Policy regarding malt should be verified. ** PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CHODOSH Section 1 contains an introduction for beginners to the subject of Chodosh. Those who have seen the Guide to Chodosh in earlier years should at least read important new information in Sections 2.3 and Section 3, before going on to the actual product listings starting with Section An Introduction to Chodosh This Guide is meant to provide practical guidance for those who wish to know which foods in the marketplace are Yoshon. As such, this is not the place for a detailed technical discussion on the agricultural and manufacturing factors relevant to the production of Yoshon. Here we present a very brief summary of these factors. Basic definition and facts about Chodosh 1.1 The definition of Chodosh Chodosh is defined in the Torah as including only grains in five categories: wheat, barley, oats, rye, and spelt. Any of these grains that took root before pesach become Yoshon after the second day of pesach. (According to some poskim this means that the planting has to occur not later than 3 days before the second day of pesach, others require 2 weeks before the second day of pesach.) If one of these grains missed this planting deadline, then it is considered as having been planted too late to be Yoshon for this year. This grain will be harvested several months later. From the time of its harvest (typically the July-August period) until the pesach of the following year, this grain is defined as Chodosh. This is the forbidden Chodosh grain, whose avoidance is the subject of this Guide. Note that only these five types of grain can be Chodosh. Other grains such as buckwheat, rice, corn, etc. never have the problem of Chodosh. There exist two kinds of crops: winter crops and spring crops. In the Northern Hemisphere (such as in America) winter crops are planted in the fall, remain in the ground though the winter (and more importantly for us, through pesach) to be harvested in the early summer. Since these crops were in the ground through pesach, by the time they are harvested they are Yoshon. In the USA, rye and spelt are both winter crops and are Yoshon (caution, rye bread contains wheat flour in addition to the rye and could thus be Chodosh). Spelt flour from Canada is also mostly Yoshon. However, rye or spelt products imported from elsewhere could be Chodosh. Spring crops in the USA are usually planted after pesach and are harvested towards the end of the summer. Therefore from the harvest until the following pesach they are Chodosh. In the USA most of the oats and barley are Chodosh until the pesach that follows the harvest. Wheat in the USA is grown as two distinct crops, winter wheat and spring wheat. These two wheats differ chemically. Winter wheat is Yoshon. Its chemical properties make it best for most cookies, crackers, pretzels, 11

12 cakes, matzos and other baked products that are soft or crumbly. Thus the wheat ingredients in most of these products are Yoshon (however, for practical guidance, please see the specific foods below or in the index). The exception to this rule is a small part of the Far West USA, near Los Angeles, where the cake and cookie flours could contain some spring wheat. Other exceptions include some heimishe brands of cookies, which use spring wheat flours. Spring wheat is used for most breads, challehs, and pasta products such as noodles, macaroni and spaghetti. Therefore these items may be Chodosh from approximately the end of the summer until pesach. Exactly which items are Chodosh depends on the type of grain, the time of the year and the region of the country. Please see specific items below for more details. Some foods that are often Chodosh 1.2 Which foods may have a Chodosh problem? Foods that contain wheat, oats or barley may be Chodosh. This includes many items using malt which is derived from barley. With regard to wheat, the important question is whether a wheat ingredient in a food is only from winter wheat and is Yoshon from spring wheat and may be Chodosh It is also important to know the manufacturing or packing date on which we should suspect that item to be Chodosh. These questions are answered in detail for specific products in the following sections. The following is a partial list of items, often found at kiddushim and similar social occasions, or in the homes of others, that one has to check to make certain that they are free from Chodosh: bread, chalah, rolls, bagels, cakes, cookies, cereals, soups, farfel, pita, pizza, noodles, macaroni, spaghetti, soup and vegetable croutons, chow mein noodles, noodle kugel, ready to eat frozen dough products including knishes, fish sticks and blintzes, breaded and stuffed items such as stuffed fowl and food covered with bread crumbs, barley, snack foods, and items containing barley products such as cholent, and some alcoholic beverages including beer, vodka, gin, cordials and prepared cocktail mixes. To this list must be added many foods that contain malt that could be a problem this year after mid December. This includes many cereals, pretzels and other items listing malt in the ingredients. A word of caution is offered to those who wish to eat away from home during the Chodosh season. From this Guide it should be obvious that avoidance of Chodosh requires being up to date about a continuously changing situation and understanding complicated items such as package codes. We have found that people do not always keep up with the changes. Therefore they are in all honesty claiming that their food is Yoshon, while following outdated guidelines. This has been especially true for people who themselves do not observe the dinim of Yoshon, but wish to prepare Yoshon for kiddushim or purim, for example. It is important to reemphasize that the Chodosh situation keeps changing and last year s (or maybe even last month s) rules may no longer be valid. We try to spread the word on ongoing changes through the telephone Hot Line, updates of this Guide, and . In addition, within the revised guidelines observed by the Guide to Chodosh, we can no longer recommend many foods without hashgocho for Yoshon. People not up to date to this change may still claim they are serving Yoshon, based on outdated guidelines or claims of Yoshon without the hashgocho needed to back up such claims. 1.3 Basics of the Yoshon Kitchen Some foods are always Yoshon. These are permitted, from the point of view of the dinim of Chodosh, all year around. Other foods have a Chodosh problem during the Chodosh season, which extends nominally from about the August-September time frame till pesach. (See Section 2.2 about the problems of storing foods.) This section introduces the beginner to the topic of Chodosh. These are only general rules. In specific instances only items under reliable hashgocho for Yoshon or if the item is produced before Chodosh is available on the market, should be used. The Guide is intended to produce practical guidance in this respect. General rules about Yoshon General rules about foods that are Yoshon or Chodosh Foods produced in the USA that do not contain any wheat, oats, spelt or barley never have Chodosh problems. 12

13 Thus for example, buckwheat is never Chodosh. However corn flakes cereal may be Chodosh because it contains malt that comes from barley. Rye flour is Yoshon in the United States. On the other hand rye bread is made from a mixture of a minority of rye flour and a majority of spring wheat flour. Therefore, it may have Chodosh problems. Rye crackers made in the U.S. may be Yoshon if they contain no malt, wheat or oats. Many rye products from other countries have not been investigated. Items which contain only winter wheat and no spring wheat, barley, or oats are Yoshon. Spelt grown in the USA is always Yoshon. About 80% of the spelt grown in Canada is also Yoshon. Therefore, we assume that spelt in all items produced in the USA or Canada is Yoshon. Commercial bakeries use flours that differ from flour that is sold in groceries for home baking. Commercial white cake, cookie, cracker and matzo flour is always Yoshon, almost everywhere in the USA. (Exception to this rule is a small region of the Far West USA, near Los Angeles, where these flours may contain some spring wheat. Other exceptions include some heimishe brands of cookies, which use spring wheat flours.) Commercial bakery wheat flours, other than cake and cookie flours, may be Chodosh. This includes the flour used for bread, chalah, rolls, bagels, danishes, pizza and many cereals. It also includes most whole wheat and graham flour products. In addition many local bakeries add Chodosh flour to some of their cakes and cookies. If the baker uses pure cake or cookie flour, or pure rye, then it is Yoshon (except maybe in the Far West.) If it contains other flours, it could be Chodosh. Gefilte fish is Yoshon since it uses matzo meal as a filler. Matzos and matzo meal are always made from winter wheat and are Yoshon. The one case we know of when bread crumbs are used instead of matzo meal (A&B), the hashgocho certifies that the bread used is Yoshon. Malt can start becoming Chodosh each year after Dec 15. Malt is used in many foods such as cereals, pretzels, candies, etc. For a discussion of malt please see Section 10.1 of this Guide. The above list is not complete. It is only presented to provide an introductory set of examples. Please see the remainder of this Guide for more detailed information. How to avoid worm contamination Storing Yoshon-Avoiding worm problems Chodosh starts becoming available each year in the mid July-October time frame. Starting Chodosh dates are given below for specific items. The Chodosh season ends on pesach. Some foods that people want are not available in Yoshon form during the Chodosh season. These foods that could become Chodosh in the Fall must be stored so that they last until the following pesach. Storage of perishable foods could result in worm contamination unless proper precautions are exercised. Yoshon flour used by Yoshon bakeries, pizza shops and such for bread, chalahs, rolls, coffee cake, pizza, etc. is available from several sources. The only method that was available until a few years ago used flour milled at the end of the summer from Yoshon wheat before the Chodosh came into the mill. The milled flour had been stored in 100 pound bags for the 6-7 month duration until pesach. Such flour that is under hashgocho for Yoshon is usually stored under refrigerated conditions, to prevent the hatching of worms. A newer approach that was used the first time during the season, has a mill storing Yoshon wheat in separate silos, along the silos of Chodosh wheat. The Yoshon wheat is sealed by a mashgiach and is only opened and ground into flour under the supervision of the mashgichim. This Yoshon wheat is being milled each week and being shipped directly to the distributors and bakeries without the need to store flour before shipment. The malt that is added is always stored Yoshon malt. Therefore this Yoshon flour has the same freedom from worms that the freshly ground Chodosh flour has. (This freshly ground flour is only available in large 100 pound bags sold to bakeries. It is not sold to consumers.) Recently there has become available a third option for the bakeries. Namely, they can use freshly ground winter wheat flour to which is added a protein fortifier (vital wheat gluten) that is also made from winter wheat. Sometimes they add some flour from stored spring wheat. It should be noted, that almost every year, so far as we 13

14 know, there were no reported problems in flour produced either by the new freshly ground method or the old refrigerated storage method. Flour that consumers buy in small bags, such as the 5 pound bags, have a greater danger of worm contamination. The seal on these bags is not as secure as the big bakery bags. Therefore, use the dating code when available to make sure that the bag was not made too long before your purchase date. It is quite possible that flour bags stored in warehouses or on grocery shelves may have picked up worms from the outside through incompletely sealed openings. It is also critical that you store these bags at home under worm-free conditions. (See below) Sifting of flour is also recommended. Noodles, pasta and barley may become wormy if not stored properly. Special care must be taken with these items. These can easily become wormy even at the grocery storage and store facilities. Rabbi Efraim Israelowitz of the Yeshiva of Brooklyn reported that noodles and pasta stored in airtight plastic or cellophane bags are the most secure in terms of preventing worms from entering from the outside. Cardboard boxes and paper bags are much more vulnerable, especially when damaged in handling. He reports that some barley sold in the groceries is stored in cellophane bags that have holes in them. These holes are there to aid in ventilating the barley. However, the same holes provide easy entry to worms. Thus all barley, whether stored for Yoshon or recently purchased, should be checked for worms before use. RECOMMENDED STORAGE METHODS o o o The best storage method to avoid worm contamination, the only one recommended without hesitation, is in refrigerators and freezers. Sealed plastic bags and containers may be useful. Long term storage without the above protection, especially in the warm weather, is not advisable. 2. OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION 2.1 Glossary of important terms used in this Guide There are three important terms used in this Guide that are related to dates. All together, they are referred to by the general term Chodosh date. Definitions of Chodosh dates and codes Package code: For packaged foods, there is usually some code to indicate when that item was packed. When used with the Chodosh cutoff dates in Section 2.3 below, the package code can be used to determine whether the contents of the package are Yoshon or may be Chodosh. Such codes can be in the form of a Best if used by date or some non-obvious set of numbers and letters. These codes are usually stamped or embossed on the package. They are not part of the regular printed label and they are not the bar code. Alphabetical order usually abbreviated alph order : Some package codes list the month of the packing in an alphabetical order as part of the dating code, where a different letter is used for each month. Unless stated otherwise, this will be as follows: A=Jan, B=Feb, C=Mar, D=Apr, E=May, F=June, G=July, H=Aug, I=Sep, J=Oct, K=Nov, L=Dec. Day of the year: Used in some package codes indicates the number of days that have passed since the previous Dec 31. For example, 032 would be Feb 1. This is also sometimes referred to as the Julian date. Winter wheat vs Yoshon: If we are reasonably certain that all ingredients in a food are completely Yoshon, then we use the term Yoshon. If we know that the item uses winter wheat, but it may have other ingredients that may pose a Chodosh problem, then we use the term winter wheat. Thus, for example, for cereals or cookies where the 14

15 Guide states that they are from winter wheat, it is important that the ingredients should be checked for malt or other items that could be Chodosh. 2.2 Yoshon categories used in this Guide This designation indicates that the item or establishment has a hashgocho that certifies that the products are -אּ always Yoshon (no further checking is required.) -This designation indicates cases where the hashgocho for Yoshon does not include every item, or cover the ב entire season, or may not cover malt. The consumer has to check for exceptions, as noted in each case. Categories ס,ח,ד,ב,אּ discontinued. This -ג category was used in earlier years and has been Indicates -ד cases where the item is Yoshon without hashgocho for Yoshon. The Yoshon recommendation is either based on the Yoshon status being determined from sources independent of the company or based on a cutoff date derived from the US Department of Agriculture harvest information, plus a package dating code. Chodosh. - This category indicates items that are believed to be ח This -ס indicates cases where the manufacturer claims that the item is Yoshon. However, the Guide can not recommend the item as Yoshon due lack of hashgocho for Yoshon. 2.3 Chodosh cutoff dates based on harvest data General Chodosh cutoff dates In earlier years, the Guide would try to ask each company when they begin to use the newly harvested Chodosh crops. Under the current guidelines described above, we no longer rely on such information provided by individual companies. Instead, when hashgocho is not available for packaged foods, we use crop harvest data supplied by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in their public reports and similar data not originating with each company When it comes to effective cutoff dates for spring wheat we will recognize the fact that the majority of the harvested crops are transferred to central shipping points or stored. We have developed an estimate that at least days should pass from the first reported start of the harvest before the Chodosh would start to be used. For malt and beer derived from barley malt, we normally use December 15 as the cutoff date. Regarding spelt, we learned in 07 that all spelt whether grown in the USA or in Canada can be assumed to be Yoshon, as detailed later in this Guide. In the table below we summarize the cutoff dates recommended by the Guide, based on estimates of the US Government supplied harvest data. The Packing date indicates that all packaged goods with dating codes that were before that date should be Yoshon. Starting with the Packing date and later, they may be Chodosh. The Purchase date is the first date for which we feel it is no longer safe to purchase the foods without checking for dating codes. We also give the first recommended date to stop purchasing freshly baked items produced at the local bakeries.. We expect the Chodosh grain to start appearing in products as follows: 1) Oats: Until now, the Guide recommended the default cutoff packing dates for all food items containing oats, of Jul 26. See new guidelines for oats, below. Those new guidelines apply only to oats in cereal products including oatmeal. SPRING WHEAT: Packaged foods that contain spring wheat may contain Chodosh if packed or produced as of Aug 9. If purchased after Aug 24 hashgochos for Yoshon or package codes should be checked. Items containing wheat, wheat germ starch may be Chodosh after this date unless it is known that the wheat is Yoshon. Examples of foods that are from winter wheat and are Yoshon are matzos and gefilte fish (Note: Some gefilte fish may use ground up bread crumbs instead of matzo meal. The only such brand we have found so far A&B was using only Yoshon bread crumbs.). (The O-U has determined 15