5 Shvat 5770
January 20, 2010
I have learned a bit more regarding the Chief Rabbinate Fraud Division alert (008/2010) released earlier in the week to the list pertaining to Campbell’s Vegetarian Vegetable Soup being sold in Israel with an unauthorized Half Moon K, item 2 in the bulletin.
The kashrus of this product was misrepresented by the importer, and while the ingredients appear to be vegetarian, there are genuine concerns that the soup may have been prepared in vessels containing real treif, examples being non-kosher beef and pork soups, which the company also produces on the same equipment.
Rav Yisroel Belsky Shlita, noted halachic authority in the USA, has stated that anyone who recently used this product must kasher those dishes that may be kashered. Those vessels which may not be kashered, such as china/earthenware, must be discarded. His p’sak is based on a previous ruling by Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l.
As such, if anyone has inadvertently used the product in question, s/he should contact their rav, present all the information regarding the alerts, and seek a halachic ruling on the matter. If one does consult a rav, one must present all the information since many rabbonim may not be in the loop and may be unaware of the alert pertaining to this particular product, and/or R’ Belsky’s ruling.
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Below is the actual p’sak released by Rabbi Yisroel Halevy Belsky Shlita.
כשרים שנדבק עליהם פתק שהם כשרים. ואף שכל המרכיבים של המרק כשרים ונתבשל תוך קופסא סגור בתנור גדול הנקרא RETORT ע”י קיטור המסובב בכל התנור, מ”מ הם נותנים ג”כ בהתנור קופסאות של כל מיני מרק אף של בשר ועוף נבילה. והכל נתבשל יחד בתוך התנור ע”י קיטור ומים רותחים שנוטף מקופסא לקופסא.
בודאי צריכים לפרסם שמרק ירקות אלו הם בלתי כשרים. שאנו מחוייבים לחשוש שהמים שהולך סביב הקופסא של מרק בשר נבילה מקבל טעם איסור, עיין יו”ד סימן צ”ב סעיף ה’, וחוזרים ואוסרים מרק ירקות כשנוטף עליו. ואף שמעולם לא טעם שום אדם טעם בשר במרק ירקות ולא טעם ירקות במרק הבשר, מ”מ פסק הגר”מ פיינשטיין זצ”ל שמ”מ אי אפשר לעקור סעיף משלחן ערוך וחייבים לאסור.
ולכן, אם מישהוא חימם מרק ירקות אלו בקדירה, הקדירה צריך הגעלה.
נכון.
ישראל הלוי בעלסקי
ד’ שבט תש”ע
8 Comments
Yechiel, I enjoy your website very much. This post, however, I think is inexact and as such, people could get confused.
You say that there is a “genuine concern” that the soup “may have” been prepared with treif. This would not be good enough to take the extreme measures Rabbi Belsky prescribes.
However, the teshuva says that the soup IS cooked with treif. The concern is that taste has been transferred. There’s a big difference.
I’m not sure why R’ Belsky is commenting on the matter given that it wasn’t a ziyuf of OU.
What do the Half Moon K Rabonim say? Presumably they have/had a shaychus with Campbells?
if i am not mistaken, the ou bought out the half moon k.
also the campbell’s vegetarian wgetable soup briefly wasv actually certified by ou. so it makes sense that r belsky would write teshuva.
I have a question:
According to the loshon of R’ Belsky’s teshuva, the cans are SPRAYED with hot water. This would be irui, and as such the CANS would become treif but not the CONTENTS (SOUP).
Additionally, in many of these circumstances where cooking is done with hot water and steam (such as hospitals or cruise ships), chemical agents are added to the water to prevent rusting of the pipes. If this is the case (not an unlikely occurrence) , then the water is PAGUM and there is no problem either.
I believe it is a good idea for people to speak with their Rabbonim before throwing out their china bowls and kashering all of their pots; there is a lot more information needed.
Any chance for further clarifications of the metzius of this case?
Thanks!!
half moon k is now owned by the ou. thats why the ou gve the alert
The half moon K was acquired by the OU a few months ago.
Half Moon K merged with the OU in August 2008, which is why the alert is an OU alert.
According to my friend who was one of the mashgichim at Campbell’s, the last kosher run of soup was in Sept of 08. Anything produced after that was treif as the equipment REQUIRED kashering.
To touch on a few points above, I asked and was told that the cans COOK IN boiling WATER as well as steam.
If you have any questions about what to do, you should present the shayla to your rov along with all the facts.
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