Is It Kosher? Here is a four page letter from Rabbi Lopatin, which answers questions about dairy products, reliable hechers, fruits, and vegetables, and more.

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The plain K
Merely having the letter "k" on a product does not mean it is kosher. Look out for yogurts and Jell-O, which have a “k” but are not kosher by our community’s standards. On the other hand, there are products that bear a "k" which really stands for a reliable supervision, such as on Kellogg's products. KD means that they are dairy. Kellogg's with a "k" are under the supervision of the Va'ad Harabanim of Massachusetts. Please note that some of Kellogg's cereals are not kosher and do not bear any "k". Other reliable plain "k"s are Tabasco sauce and Starbuck's Frappacino with a "k".

Fresh fish
While it is preferable to buy your fish from a kosher fishmonger, such as Good Morgan Fish or at the kosher fish area at the Jewel on Howard, it is perfectly acceptable to buy fresh fish from a regular store as long as the following conditions are met:

1 Make sure you can identify the fish as kosher either by seeing its scales, or by some other unmistakable mark

2 Have the store wash off their knife before they cut your fish

3. Make sure you wash the fish thoroughly when you get home. Since nothing hot touched the fish, washing it off will clean off anything treif that might have touched it.

The good news on fruits and vegetables
Except for artichoke hearts and brussel sprouts and all products coming from China - which always need supervision - fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables are all kosher as long as there are no extra flavorings or stabilizers– beyond salt or baking soda or the like – and have no added oils. I would suggest going to the Star-K Online website for a more extensive discussion of fresh fruit and vegetables. Rav Moshe Heinemann is an accepted gadol on kashrut and of all the various rulings on fruit and vegetables, I have come to trust his opinion. Some highlights:

Broccoli and Cauliflower and Asparagus: Wash it under running water, shake it over a white or light bowl, check for bugs on the stalk or in the bowl. If you don’t find any, it is kosher to eat.

Raspberries: Check at least three of those you wish to eat for bugs outside and inside. The Star-K tells people to blow on it and then look for bugs. If no bugs found, all are good.

Strawberries: Soak thoroughly, and, if possible, with a fruit and vegetable detergent which is kosher. Wash and serve.

Dried beans, lentils, grains, sugar, flour, plain cocoa, honey, popcorn, unflavored coffee and tea, do not require supervision. Canned FRUIT, except from China , do not need any supervision (except on Passover) as long as the only added ingredients are salt, sugar, corn syrup or water. Canned fruit that comes from China, e.g. Mandarin oranges, requires reliable supervision. Cut-up fresh fruit in a supermarket is acceptable without any supervision, but, if possible, please buy the supervised cut up fruit available at the Jewel on Howard ( Evanston ) if you can. Sesame seeds do not need supervision. Lettuce needs to be washed, and Romaine lettuce needs to be soaked in water with vinegar. Bagged lettuce of any kind, which comes with a reliable supervision, does not need to be washed. Most spices, whole or ground, do not require kashrut supervision. Please see the Chicago Rabbinical Council's website, CRCweb.org, for a complete list. They also have a complete list of which dried fruit are kosher without supervision - such as domestic raisons.

If we all work together to keep to these standards, everyone in our community will feel comfortable to be invited or to invite others to their home. Let us continue to create a community whose standards reflect the pleasantness we each have within us, which we can bring to our tables and homes.

Rabbi Asher Lopatin

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