[Avodah] Rabbinate banning non-chalavyisrael products?

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

> From: Ben Waxman  [on Areivim]
> http://www.dat.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/F715F6E8-3AC1-44D9-A43C-17ACD704D2F2/0/006SCH.pdf
> This document states the rules about chalav nochri.
> [URL reduced to <http://bit.ly/etLwqz> -micha]

As a possible example of the implementation of those rules, I'd like to tell you about the can of made-in-USA (but obviously exported to Israel) "Sour Cream & Onion flavored Pringles" which is in front of me.

On the can, in three lines of a progressively less bold font, it reads:

> kasher chalavi l'ochlei avkat chalav nochri
> kasher b'hashgachat OUD
> b'ishur harabanut hareshit l'yisrael

("Kosher dairy for those who eat chalav nochri milk powder. Kosher under supervision of the OUD. Certified by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.")

It seems to me that by specifying "powder", the Rabbinate is telling us that they would *not* approve liquid milk, even liquid chalav hacompanies. They seem to totally reject the heter of chalav hacompanies, but are willing to certify the powder of chalav nochri. And, at first glance, that is exactly what I read in items #1 and #2 of the document mentioned at the top of this post.

But let's analyze it a bit more carefully. My translation of those items would be:

> 1) In general, the use of milk from a non-Jewish dairy, for
> imported products or local manufacture, is not certified,
> whether as liquid milk on its own, or as one of the ingredients
> of the product.
>
> 2) Use of chalav nochri powder, or powdered ingredients derived
> from chalav nochri, such as: milk protein, milk sugar, machmatzot
> [enzymes?], etc., which were produced under a kashrut certified
> by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, are allowed provided that they
> be marked with this text: "Kasher chalavi, mechil avkat rechivei
> chalav nochri - kosher dairy, containing powdered ingredients of
> chalav nochri."

(Translator's note: Is there any significance to the term "chalav neegar" [liquid milk] in note 1? I'm not used to that word, and would have expected "chalav nazil".)

But compare that with the ingredient list provided by the manufacturer, which mentions these ingredients among many others: "... whey, ... nonfat milk, sour cream (cream, nonfat milk, cultures), cultured nonfat milk, ... sodium caseinate ..."

I'm no food scientist, but I wonder about the sour cream used here. Does cream have the same heterim that butter does, i.e., that it can't be made from tamei milk? What about the "nonfat milk" used in the sour cream and as a main ingredient -- should we presume this to be shorthand for "nonfat dry milk", which would be a powder, or might it simply be liquid skim milk?

On a practical level, these questions do not bother me, inasmuch as I do drink chalav hacompanies and I rely on the OU. But I'm still interested in the shitos of the Chief Rabbinate, and I can't help but wonder if they might rely on the heter of chalav hacompanies, at least in borderline cases.

Akiva Miller

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