[Avodah] Government Shutdown and Chalav Yisrael

[Zev Sero]

On 14/1/19 3:14 pm, Micha Berger wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 03:04:09PM -0500, Zev Sero via Avodah wrote:
> ...
> : Dairy safety inspection is a state matter.   (I can personally
> : testify that the inspectors who come to NY dairy farms are from the
> : state.  I have no personal knowledge of who comes to the plants, but
> : my understanding is that it's the same people.)
> 
> According to the OU as well, the inspection is actually done by state
> agencies. The USDA has standard that at minimum the state agency must
> comply to.

I doubt this claim's validity.  From what I can see on the USDA's own 
site and on other sites about it, its food safety inspection service has 
no jurisdiction over, or interest in, milk or dairy products, and its 
marketing service's inspections are voluntary and probably do not cover 
retail milk producers.

> In terms of the theory, see my prior post on this thread
> <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/2019q1/043511.html>.
> I think that if inspections would be temporarily halted (say, in case of
> that state shut-down), it would really depend on whether we follow RMF
> that all Ashkenazim really follow the Chasam Sofer, or if the rabbanim
> who were meiqilim before the Igeros Moshe were really setting up a norm
> to follow the Peri Chadash.

And as I wrote earlier, I don't see it.  According to RMF's shita, the 
plant inspectors (whoever they are) turn out to be irrelevant.  The 
certainty that the retailer from whom you bought the bottle did not 
tamper with it is *greater* than the certainty that there is no funny 
business going on at an inspected bottling plant. So according to RMF it 
doesn't matter if the plant is never inspected at all.  We don't need 
"re'iyah", however defined, at the plant, but only at the retailer, and 
by RMF's standards we have it.

That is, unless you buy your non-Jewish milk at a Jewish retailer.  I 
suppose that in RMF's day it was common for Jewish-owned corner shop to 
sell non-Jewish milk.  Nowadays it seems to me this is not common; where 
you have Jewish shops they sell Jewish milk, and where you don't have 
Jewish milk you also don't have Jewish shops.


-- 
Zev Sero            A prosperous and healthy 5779 to all
zev at sero.name       Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper