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<font size=3>Rabbi Chaim Goldberg, who heads the OU "Fish
Desk" sent the response below to my earlier email (part of which is
below) on this topic. He has given me permission to distribute his
response. YL<br><br>
1. Gefilte fish is ground, so
presumably any bugs would be ground too. There is no issur of bitul
issur lchatchila, since one does not want the bugs, and ground up they
are no longer a beryah and therefore batul.<br><br>
2. A & B uses farmed salmon (wild
is RIDICULOUSLY expensive)<br>
<br>
Rabbi Chaim Goldberg <br>
Rabbinic Coordinator <br>
Orthodox Union <br>
212.613.8340 <br>
Direct Fax 212.613.0695<br>
<br>
<b>From:</b> Yitzchok Levine
[<a href="mailto:Larry.Levine@stevens.edu" eudora="autourl">
mailto:Larry.Levine@stevens.edu</a>] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, May 23, 2010 12:20 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> avodah@lists.aishdas.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Star-K on Worms in Fish<br>
<br>
Below is the recent Star-K post regarding checking for bugs in fish. It
is from
<a href="http://star-k.org/cons-vegdetail.php?ID=74">
http://star-k.org/cons-vegdetail.php?ID=74<br><br>
</a>I found the listing under "only the variety of fish found on the
following list may be used without any need for inspection" of
gefilte fish and minced fish sticks surprising. After all,
one could conceivably use some of the varieties of fish listed under
"should NOT be used" in the making of gefilte fish and/or
minced fish. Indeed, A & B sells (or at least did sell) salmon
gefilte fish. See
<a href="http://www.gefiltefish.com/product.asp?id=1&subid=58&productID=445">
http://www.gefiltefish.com/product.asp?id=1&subid=58&productID=445</a>
<br><br>
Presumably the fact that the fish is ground up and therefore the worms
are also ground up is why the Star-K lists gefilte fish and minced fish
as being OK, no matter what kind of fish these products are made from.
IIRC, there was something about pureeing strawberries that might be bug
infested and then using them.<br><br>
I am not sure exactly how grinding or pureeing works halachically so that
one may use the result. True, one can no longer see the worms or bugs,
but why is one allowed to do this l'chatchila? Is it not being
mevatel an issur up front? <br><br>
YL<br>
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