Presented by Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc)
Q: I have noticed that brown eggs have more of a tendency to have blood spots. Is there a reason for that?
A: Actually, the spots you are seeing probably aren’t blood spots. Egg whites have clumps of protein in them, and they are more visible in brown eggs because of the coloring. Those clumps of protein will be asymmetrical and brown. Blood spots are symmetrical and red.
Q: cRc policy is that in general vitamins require certification. What if the pharmacy makes their own vitamins from kosher ingredients? All they are doing is grinding and mixing?
A: One may act as the mashgiach, checking to ensure all the ingredients are indeed approved and seeing the technician make the vitamin.
Q: Do frozen pomegranate seeds need a hechsher?
A: No, frozen pomegranate do not need a hechsher.
Q: Does dishwashing detergents require a hechsher?
A: No. All dishwashing detergents in all forms are recommended without a hechsher.
Q: Does extra virgin coconut oil require hashgacha?
A: Extra virgin coconut oil does require a hechsher.
Q: What is the bracha on bread made from sprouted wheat?
A: The bracha is hamotzei.
Q: Does one need to toivel a ceramic coffee mug?
A: A ceramic coffee mug does not need to be toiveled.
Q: What is the proper procedure if I wanted to make a puree of fresh kale?
A: If one plans on pureeing the kale, the kale should be washed very well with soap and water and then pureed. A chazaka check is not needed.
Q: What is the status of bourbons not listed on the cRc Liquor List?
A: In general, bourbon does not require kosher certification. Two exceptions are: 1 – Some have begun adding flavors and/or aging the liquor in wine casks. Such items would not be acceptable without certification, and consumers can determine if a given liquor has this issue by carefully reading the bottle’s label. 2 – Some bourbon companies are owned by Jews who do not sell their chametz; those brands are not recommended and are listed on the cRc Liquor List.
Q: If a hechsher is not listed on your recommended hechsher list, does that mean it is not recommended?
A: The cRc recommended hechsher list is not exhaustive and just because the symbol is not on our website does not mean it is not recommended. Consumers are encouraged to contact our office if they have a question about the reliability of a hechsher.
To receive email kashrus alerts, send your name and email address to: alerts@crcweb.org. For more FAQs, visit CRCweb.org
you’re thinking of products listed as “straight bourbon”. the term “bourbon” alone can apply to stuff like this: http://www.astorwines.com/SearchResultsSingle.aspx?search=25388&searchtype=Contains&term=Angel,s,Envy,Bourbon&p=2
this brand is aged in port barrels.
i’ve spoken with a well-known non-lubavitch rav, and he said that majority of ashkenazic poskim hold such products are permissible, though there are reasons to be more machmir.
Dishes made of other than glass and metal are not required tevillah. Chinaware porcelain and ceramic were required tevilla without a Brocho since they used to have a glass coating that might render them as glass. Nowadays, the coating is somewhat different, see Rabbi Blumenkranz’s digest Chapter “Tevillas Keilim”. But I’m nit sure everyone agrees with him.
can i buy the refrigerated ones they sell in costco?
thank you for this! so informative and interesting! please give us more of these fast facts!
ezekiel bread is pas yisroel.
it’s under chof-k hechsher and the mashgiach is Rabbi Shaya Eichenblatt from LA
The bread is pas yisroel, as is the food for life muffins.
I’m shocked! For years I gave my occasional souvenir mugs to non-Jewish cleaning lady to avoid the hassle of toiveling. Dumb question but they only refer to “mug”: DOES THIS APPLY TO ALL CERAMICS or just to mugs? And
WHY fo ceramics mnot require toiveling whilst porcelain/china does? Anyone who can explain – pls do!. I need to know where to draw the line. Thanks.
I too live in Chicago, and I love this feature, but would reccommend it being done thru the ok or a chabad rav.
Crc is amazing and we do use them, but there are things they are more lenient about than chabad.
Great article. BUT… 1. By definition bourbon can not be aged in any cask other than brand new charred oak casks. 2. By definition bourbon can not have flavors added to them. These problems are with American whiskey and many other whiskeys. Here is an issue though. (I don’t know if this is true, but thats why we have mashgichim.) If a distilery makes kosher and non kosher products there may be a concern of cross contamination between the keilim. For example if they make a brandy which has wine in it that is not kosher and then they make… Read more »
Why is dish detergent needing a hechsher or not different for Chabad and the rest of the frum world? Some things I can understand Chabad being more strict, but why dish detergent?
Also, why oh why would someone bring up Starbucks (and their new MEAT flavored coffee)
what problemb can coconut oil have? who can i ask about a certain brand? we shlep it all the way to south america, ……i pray its kosher!!
Isn’t it not Pas Yisroel and therefore not minhag Chabad to eat it?
Starbucks was not mentioned in the article, and I don’t understand why anyone brought it up, but since it has been mentioned, it is not true that “99% of the drinks are made together with meat”. The shayla that arose recently is that in *some locations* they wash the brew basket from the coffee maker in the dishwasher, together with all the treife dishes. Some locations don’t do this; they wash the brew basket separately, and therefore there is no shayla. Also the smaller Starbucks locations, where they don’t have a whole store but only an alcove or a stand,… Read more »
From 17 years of experience living in Paraguay, where only brown eggs can be found, I can confirm that %80 of them have real blood spots. So be careful with those.
half of my friends WASH on ezekial bread and half do NOT WASH, insisting it is not hamotzi. Thank you for clarifying
what do you mean the drinks are prepared with meat?an Ice latte for example is made by placing an empty plastic cup under the espresso machine, then adding soy milk directly from the container and ice- no conact with meat??
thank you i was wundering about the brown eggs
Who mentioned them?
This is obvious and clear, and there is no minhag Chabad to tovel them, with or without a bracha!
There are major questions abut strabucks, they have also recently started carrying meat in their stores, 99% of the drinks are made together with meat and have serious questions
HOW IS CERAMIC DIFFERENT FROM CHINA?
a ceramic mug does not need tevilah similiar to a plastic item.
however, minhag chabad is to toivel ceramics and plastics without a bracha.
in general since most items are questionable if they belonged to a goy (they are manufactured by large corporations, not individuals), our custom is not to make a bracha.
the exception seems to be a cu
Nice post. But, these are not necessarily lubavitch standards. See, e.g., the coffee mug and the dishwasher detergent.
I would double check some of this with a Chabad Rav. Although we follow the CRC on most occasions there are times when they differ from our own rabbonim.
-A Chicago Resident
this is very useful – would be nice to see more of this…
“A ceramic coffee mug does not need to be toiveled.”
Huh? How’s that?
…I was just about to run out and toivel a new ceramic mug, and now I don’t have to!
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA…10 QUICK KASHRUS QUESTIONS IN A GLANCE! CAN THIS BECOME A REGULAR?
IT’S SHORT, SWEET AND TO THE POINT. A FAST READ YET A HALACHA THAT STAYS FOREVER. PLEASE CONSIDER DOING THIS FOR ALL US BALABUSTAS. IT IS SO VERY HELPFUL! THANK YOU
So informative!! Would love if this was an ongoing forum.