Sardines Infested With Worms

Yeshiva World News was sent the following Kashrus alert, with a request to publish it. We have reached out to the Kashrus organization making this claim, and they confirmed that they have in fact disseminated this alert.

They told YWN that they have tested over 100 cans of sardines before coming to their conclusion, that it is impossible to clean the worms out of the sardines. As of this posting, the OU (who is one of the Kashrus organizations behind the product) has not issued any statement. We have been told that they are in the process of doing their own investigation.

The alert reads as follows:

The Vaad Hakashrus of Flatbush has inspected large quantities of cans of Gefen sardines with skin and bones.

The following position is the result of our findings and reflects our opinion on this matter:

Gefen sardines with skin and bones from Portugal have been found to be heavily infested with Anisakis worms in the abdominal cavity. They are forbidden according to all opinions and are not affected by the recent discussion about Anisakis worms in the flesh of fish.

The sardines must be gutted and the interior walls scraped to ensure that the worms have been removed. This procedure requires much expertise to ascertain that all the worms have been removed. In our opinion the consumer should not attempt doing so on his own.

Currently, this alert does not affect the status of skinless and boneless sardines.

Rabbi Tzvi S. Goldberg
Kashrus Administrator
Vaad Hakashrus of Flatbush

Additionally, YWN was sent a letter from Rav Nochum Ephrayim Teitelbaum Shlita, Av Bais Din Volover, which was signed on December 31, 2010.

The English text of that letter reads:

“This is to advise that after careful investigation it was determined that insects are found in the intestines of “Gefen” sardines from Portugal. (NOT IN THE FLESH). They must first be opened and the guts completely cleaned out.”