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PSA- Edited: After months of not finding any insects
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 10:36 am
OP here.

Edited:

After months of not finding any insects at all in Organic Girl, with very tedious checking, this week I found insects (in one package only). I assume this may be either because there may be certain months (spring/summer) that produce is more infested, or during the pandemic they have less help at Organic Girl, or theyre being more lax with their checking.

Original post months ago:

I just put a whole container of Organic Girl Baby Spinach into a bowl, used liquid detergent until water was soapy feeling, swished it around very well, emptied water and repeated, and then looked at specks on thrip cloth (Star K) over a light box (Amazon) and 40X jewelers loupe (Star K), and I dont see ANY insects. All I see is a few tiny dots of green, same color as spinach. Shape of the specks doesnt resemble any insects Ive seen.

Does this make sense?

Is my Organic Girl Baby Spinach now edible?
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 10:44 am
When you emptied the water the first time, was it in the sink, or on the thrip cloth? It could be you cleaned it well enough and indeed you made it bug free!
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amother
Yellow


 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 10:48 am
I tried using the cloth method with romaine lettuce.
Since I didn’t feel confident, started to check leaf by leaf, under the light.
I found bugs. 😢
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watergirl




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 10:48 am
Jewelers loupe? Is this a thing now?
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nicole81




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 10:58 am
I can't speak to this particular brand, but I find that the packaged greens are usually bug free, even the organic ones. They're industrially washed before packaging.
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amother
Salmon


 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 11:00 am
watergirl wrote:
Jewelers loupe? Is this a thing now?


CYLOR.

I remember a thread like this once. A couple of shabbats later, the dvar Torah at shul was about things we couldn't see. The rabbi said, flat out, that if you can't see a bug with the naked eye, its not a problem.

Maybe your rabbi requires 40x magnification. But check before driving yourself nuts.
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amother
Jetblack


 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 11:01 am
watergirl wrote:
Jewelers loupe? Is this a thing now?


Halachically there’s no obligation to use a loupe or even a magnifying glass, but if you have poor eyesight it comes in handy. I was once checking produce with my ds; I saw nothing and he said “Hmm, I see six legs and antennae”. So I got my loupe ( grandpa was a jeweler) and whoa! A zoo! At his age I probably would have seen it but not anymore. My over-40 eyes just ain’t what they used to be.
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watergirl




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 11:05 am
amother [ Salmon ] wrote:
CYLOR.

I remember a thread like this once. A couple of shabbats later, the dvar Torah at shul was about things we couldn't see. The rabbi said, flat out, that if you can't see a bug with the naked eye, its not a problem.

Maybe your rabbi requires 40x magnification. But check before driving yourself nuts.


This is what I always learned! The Organic Girl is 3x washed and also has a star-k. I've never, not once, seen a bug with that product.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 11:13 am
Hashem_Yaazor wrote:
When you emptied the water the first time, was it in the sink, or on the thrip cloth? It could be you cleaned it well enough and indeed you made it bug free!


I was curious and looked at the water before dumping it, with the 40X loupe and saw nothing suspicious. Looks like what watergirl said about it being well washed, is true. It has a Hechsher but definitely not Star K.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 12:05 pm
So that batch was clean. Enjoy!

I have had triple washed (non-organic) buggy greens before, and it seems to be seasonal. I've also had plenty and plenty of batches that were perfectly fine.

[The loupe is because many times you can see a bug (with your naked eye) but can't easily discern if it's a bug or not. It's not microscopic, but the legs are tiny and you may think it's dirt. But you have seen a bug.]
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 12:17 pm
It should go without saying that generations of Jews ate vegetables without the benefit of light boxes or jeweler's loupes. If you want to believe that they all ate treif, go ahead.
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monkeys




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 12:20 pm
watergirl wrote:
This is what I always learned! The Organic Girl is 3x washed and also has a star-k. I've never, not once, seen a bug with that product.


I’ve seen creepy crawly’s on organic girl romaine with no special light and not the greatest eyesight to begin with. I stay away from that brand.
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Hashem_Yaazor




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 12:20 pm
I do want to point out that different regions and climates and times have vastly different incidences of bugs, which change the requirements of needing to check.

My father would check vegetables way before light boxes came out in the sun light with soaking and sometimes a magnifying glass. Twenty years ago. And then there were vegetables he just wouldn't buy (until Bodek came around). And now, he can eat more because there are better ways to check that he can be sure are clean.
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alef12




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 1:40 pm
Hashem_Yaazor wrote:
I do want to point out that different regions and climates and times have vastly different incidences of bugs, which change the requirements of needing to check.

My father would check vegetables way before light boxes came out in the sun light with soaking and sometimes a magnifying glass. Twenty years ago. And then there were vegetables he just wouldn't buy (until Bodek came around). And now, he can eat more because there are better ways to check that he can be sure are clean.


Yes. This.
When I was growing up lettuce was a big deal because of all the labor involved in checking it. Erev Pesach was a HUGE production because of checking all the romaine. Magnifying glases, lights and all. (The magnifying glasses were to check if something you can see is a bug or not. Not looking for things that are invisible to the naked eye!) There were vegetables that we didn't eat. Cauliflower, brussels sprouts and broccoli for example because they are way too big of a job to check . When Bodek came along it was HUGE! It really bothers me when people say "well, our grandparents and parents ate it..." Mine definitely were aware of insects in vegetables and checked for them. Though there was less of an issue before they banned certain pesticides in the 1970s...
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Rappel




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 1:54 pm
I really thought this was a satire thread at first...
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 1:56 pm
We also soaked and triple washed romaine lettuce. But we (and our frum European grandparents) washed and ate vegetables without resorting to technology. Jews all around the world ate vegetables, and their food was almost certainly much buggier than ours.

Check all you like. Just be careful not to be
מוציא לעז על הראשונים.
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 3:52 pm
Todays Rabbonim, ranging from the OU to Chassidish, ALL recommend either buying checked vegetables or checking w a lightbox. There may be a few reasons that they are recommending much more checking than generations ago, and I think the major reason is that with the ban of strong insecticides, due to govt regulations, because of the health risks of ingesting these insecticides, as time goes on, our produce is much buggier than it ever used to be.

The Jewelers Loupe that costs a few dollars, just makes it quicker and easier. If youre checking pre-washed veg, it goes pretty quickly.

I think only those to the left of OU, religiously, are less careful about Bdikas Tolaim.
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Oct 10 2019, 4:23 pm
The lightbox and magnifying glass are to make checking easier, not to say that you can't check without them.
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Rappel




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Oct 11 2019, 12:09 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
.

I think only those to the left of OU, religiously, are less careful about Bdikas Tolaim.


Would you say that Rabbi Belsky zt"l was less careful about this mitzva than the OU? Rolling Eyes
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Chana Miriam S




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Oct 11 2019, 12:24 am
watergirl wrote:
Jewelers loupe? Is this a thing now?


My understanding is that the loupe is only to clarify what you think might be a big. You don’t use it to check everything.
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