Foods that don't need a hechsher

Raisin

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 5:11 am

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

Depends of what kind of candy. Gelatine is very common. Also food coloring agents can be problematic. Water during Passover could definitely need hechsher. Fish: There are places you definitely need hechsher (due to anisakis-worms which have been found in fish)
Are you sure mayonnaise doesn't need hechsher? If eggs are from a trayf chicken type then the eggs are treyf too.

these things are all on a list and have been checked out to make sure they are ok. There is actually very few candies that are pareve on the list, I guess because of the gelatin issue. Tons of chocolate though.

But hey, I am sure you know better then the Rabbis and Batei Din here who who say that I can buy fish, eggs etc without a hechsher.

How did people eat fish before there were hechsherim?

Ruchel

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 5:13 am

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

For Passover you do need to be very careful with bottled water. Some companies use filters which contains kitniyot.

No, you don't. I'll follow what I was told and what is writtn by my rabbanim, I'm all old school like that.

Raisin, our ancestors... most newfangled people wouldn't eat by them nowadays, as my grandfather says.

Bnei Berak 10

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 5:26 am

Raisin wrote:

With all due respect but I have not told anyone what you can or cannot eat. And I certainly do not state that I know better than Rabbis or Batei Din. Please do not put words in my mouth.
In Israel there is a problem with fish due to Anisakis. The fish ppl once ate was natural and not grown in ponds etc. Today the industry grows them in ponds and in the sea. Fish ponds which are not properly taken care for will be heavily infested.
As soon as some ppl hear that a certain product has a kosher issue or a worm issue they get upset and immediately states "my grandmother grew it and they are it etc". They don't reflect for a second that the way food was produced has changed profoundly.

myname1

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 6:16 am

amother wrote:

Right, so I was saying that in England they don't have any certification and we still drink them.

Could it be that people know that these specific things are kosher? I know some places in Europe have lists instead of hechsherim- so the people who need to know do even though the package doesn't say. Kind of like in the US, many people eat Kelloggs cereals even though they only have a K on the box. It's not that people rely on a K or that they don't need to be certified kosher- it's just everyone knows that someone reliable is saying it's kosher.

salt

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 7:01 am

real israeli wrote:

I didn't read through the whole thread but I'm really curious- considering that these items are readily available with a hechsher why would you want to buy without?

Depends where you live. If you live in Jerusalem or New York, it's all readily available.
If you live in or are visiting Budapest, maybe not.

Another example - we once received a gift of natural honey from a moshav in Israel, with no label on whatsoever. We weren't sure what type of Moshav it is. Asked a Rav, and he said pure honey does not need a hechsher. So we ate it.

real israeli

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 7:14 am

salt wrote:

I hear.
Thanks for explaining.

simcha2

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 7:25 am

real israeli wrote:

I didn't read through the whole thread but I'm really curious- considering that these items are readily available with a hechsher why would you want to buy without?

They are not everywhere.

But assuming you live in a place where they are, it leads to a dangerous shift. People think you have to or you're not keeping kosher. So someone who keeps perfect kosher standards will be told that they are not keeping kosher. People will be uncomfortable eating in their house. It is ceding more and more to Rabbinic authority and more and more loss of common sense. It creates further and further divisions between Jews.

lavenderchimes

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 7:49 am

5BH wrote:

Maple Syrup definitely needs a Hechsher. They use a Treif foam in the processing. Water and Eggs in US and Canada definitely don’t need Hechsher even for Pesach.

Not all use an anti-foaming agent, and NO one uses bacon or lard any more. Even if they do use something else, it is a very small amount -- far less than 1/60.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/m...../amp/

I learned that 100% pure maple syrup is okay without a hechsher. eg. https://scrollk.org/guide-to-k.....sher/
My father's family owns a sugar bush, though it is no longer in use as the amount of work for a small operation is prohibitive at a certain point -- it's really a labor of love! They never used anything in processing -- which meant that the boiling process had to be supervised the whole time! I get now from another small operation that is a friend of the family. They also bottle there own, so there is no problem of contamination in bottling, because they ONLY produce maple syrup.

In my mind, there would be a concern that maple syrup may be tricky-ly marketed as "real" but actually be partially sugar water or corn syrup. I have seen this. You have to be aware of the wording. But that is why I get from someone I know! I have considered going up and making my own from my families sugar bush, but it's an awful lot of work, and coincides with Pesach time of year. Maybe someday:)

amother

Copper

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 7:56 am

myname1 wrote:

Kellogs cereals have MK (in England anyway), which is a very reputable hechsher.
But cereals like weetabix, nestle shreddies don't have any certification at all and we all eat them. It's more word of mouth than specific lists though you can always check with a kashrus advisory whether or not they can be eaten.

Bnei Berak 10

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 8:36 am

simcha2 wrote:

When it comes to common sense: Since food processing has changed considerably let's say the last 60-100 yrs and gotten highly sophisticated, the process to ensure things are kosher has beome more and more complicated, therefore requiring more and more hashgacha. It's unfortunate but it's reality. I was chocked to learn a few yrs ago that the alcohol industry is now able to create alcohol from things we never thought of, like from cheese liquids! Under certain laws, they might even be able to call it vodka (which is usually made from grain or potatoes). Now what does "common sense" say abt that kind of alcohol? Kosher or not? And it it considered parve or dairy? Go figure.
Some alcohol brands are kosher in one certain factory - but the other factory in another country is not! Even though it is the same brand and same company! Absolut vodka (non-flavoured) is considered kosher but some of the flavoured ones are not kosher. What does common sense say in this matter?
I am very much for common sense but once you get into the food industry itself it is simply a jungle.

imasoftov

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 8:40 am

real israeli wrote:

I didn't read through the whole thread but I'm really curious- considering that these items are readily available with a hechsher why would you want to buy without?

Given that the person held that the item did not need a hechsher, why would they prefer one with a hechsher to one without?

Brownies

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 8:49 am

Bizzydizzymommy wrote:

I happened to have just checked and my egg cartons don't have a hechsher either bought at the kosher grocery. I showed DH. He is not American. It may have to do with the fact, he said when he grew up they all knew that brown eggs were not kosher. He said maybe white eggs don't need a hechsher. I know my inlaws chickens are kosher and lay brown eggs. I need to learn more about this as this is pretty new info for me and I recently found out about this.

Brown eggs are kosher. They are simply avoided because they are more likely to have blood spots. This is because the process used during production to identify and discard eggs with imperfections such as blood spots (involves light being shone on the eggs - see the link that Pause posted) are not as good at detecting the blood spots in brown eggs because of the dark colour of the shell.

Brownies

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 8:56 am

I live in Europe and there are many things we can eat without hechsher according to the local Kashrut authority. This includes many of the things mentioned above such as plain dried herbs and spices, fish as long as skin is attached, pasta, rice, dried beans and legumes etc. Also tinned vegetables and fruit in water or their own juice (making sure there’s no grape juice in tinned fruit), tomato purée, most juices and soft drinks. Also frozen veg - the only frozen veg not recommended is stuff like broccoli which is pretty hard if not impossible to check once frozen. This is aside from things which have been approved for the Kosher list.

Bnei Berak 10

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 9:10 am

Brownies wrote:

Happened to me once years ago. Bought brown eggs - I had to throw out at least half of them or even more due to blood spots!

SixOfWands

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 10:21 am

Iymnok wrote:

A hechsher makes the product more sellable. That is why there is a hechsher on things like water, salt and flour.
There are g*yim who think kosher means healthy.

This.

They also put heckshers on floor cleaners. The OU certifies Mr. Clean; I hope no one is ingesting it. But people want to see that hecksher on products, even when its unnecessary.

mommyla

Wed, Dec 06 2017, 10:26 am

real israeli wrote:

I didn't read through the whole thread but I'm really curious- considering that these items are readily available with a hechsher why would you want to buy without?

When we were in Nowheresville, Vermont, every gift shop had beautiful bottles of maple syrup. We wanted to buy some as gifts. Our rav said 100% pure is always kosher.

That's in addition to business trips to places where they've never seen a Jew (yes, even in the USA) and it's very hard to find food with a hechsher.