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PESACH BULLETIN #1
Dear Friends,
Pesach is once again on our doorstep and the Kashrut Division has been hard at work for the past eight months to ensure that you receive the best selection of products, with the highest standards of kashrut. Our Rabbis and mashgichim have supervised the manufacture and packaging of all locally produced products, including those products which generally are unlikely to contain any chametz, such as tea, salt etc, so as to provide an added level of assurance to the consumer.
Please take note of the following important information:
The Beth Din is not responsible for the packing of supermarket shelves. Consumers are advised to check each and every product for an authorised Pesach sticker or imprint. One should not rely merely on the fact that a product was found in the “Pesach Section”.
Products produced under supervision of the Johannesburg Beth Din will either have a sticker which bears the name of the manufacturer, the current year, and a unique control number, or a special Pesach imprint on the packaging.
Imported products must have a reliable Pesach hechsher. Products which bear the hechsher of the Orthodox Union of America (the letter “U” in a circle), will have a “P” alongside to indicate that it is Kosher for Pesach. The “P” is not for “Parev”. The same is true for the “Star-K”.
Products imported from Israel will also have a special Pesach hechsher, but the consumer should be aware that many Israeli products contain “kitniyot”, which Ashkenazim avoid on Pesach. This will be stated on the packaging.
The Beth Din Pesach Guide is now available and will be distributed at supermarkets and via the UOS office – at no charge. The guide is also available for download on our website.
A comprehensive medicine list detailing the rules of taking medicine on Pesach, as well as hundreds of the most commonly used medicines has been compiled, and will very shortly be available for search and download on our website.
The following products do not need a Pesach hechsher: Bicarbonate of Soda (must state B.P.), Aluminium foil, Paper plates, Contact lens solution, Unflavored dental floss, Eggs, Boxed frozen fish.
The Kashrut hotline is available at all times to take your kashrut queries. During office hours, for product queries, please call 011 485 4865 and after hours please call 079 609 3150 or 082 957 2490. For all halachic queries, please call Rabbi Baumgarten on 082 820 3032. Email queries may be sent to kashrut@uos.co.za.
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