 New Bug-Free Producer To Enter Kosher Market
By: Sarah Cohen
Wednesday, January 24, 2007 Kosher consumers around the world will soon be able to find a new brand of bug-free produce, Kosher Today has learned. According to kosher dietary laws, insects in any form are forbidden to be ingested. In the new age of “super bugs” where insects have developed immunity to pesticides, producers have been searching for new methods of inspection to comply with Halachah. Like Alei Katif, which first established its greenhouses in the Gaza Strip, Pso’Tiv Produce is growing vegetables, fruits and herbs in the controlled environment of a greenhouse. Bodek, a leader in bug-free produce also has its own greenhouse now. Items such as Romaine and iceberg lettuce, parsley, cilantro, dill, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, and raspberries, all of which are typically subject to infestation will be grown in Pos’Tiv expansive greenhouses using specially designed mesh and other insect-deterring devices.
“Strict inspections in accordance with Jewish Law are conducted in the greenhouses and the distribution plants,” commented Cliff Charles, plant manager for Pos’Tiv Produce. Depending on the stage of growth as well as the type of vegetables, some of the inspections are visual while others will be done by washing a percentage sample of the produce. The produce will be available for retail the week of January 29th in supermarkets around the world. “The success of this project will enable us, for the first time, to offer 100 percent clean bug-free produce to not only Jewish consumers but also to any other consumer who desires this product in the U.S. and Canada,” said Charles. The entire project enjoys the approval and rabbinical certification of the world’s leading authorities on religious dietary law, including  Rabbi Moses Vaya of Bnei Brak in Israel, as well as the Orthodox Union in New York City. Rabbi Lenny Steinberg of the OU is one of the rabbinic supervisors of the Pos’Tiv project. (koshertoday.com )
No one has commented on this article. |
