Details:
VIN News
New York — An unprecedented nationwide outbreak of deadly salmonella bacteria centered on peanut products has thus far killed nine people and sickened more than 600 in 43 states. But the outbreak also has many in the frum community asking whether the conditions at Peanut Corp. of America facilities said to have triggered the outbreak could also represent a laxity on the part of the OU and other kosher certifiers whose inspectors regularly oversaw the plants in question.
Via numerous e-mails and its contacts at the Orthodox Union, VIN News has learned that many kosher consumers are directly querying the OU whether the salmonella outbreak represents a kashrus problem—and that many others are simply pondering that same question without calling.
Reports of salmonella-spreading mold, rats and roaches at the plants in question have alarmed kosher consumers because their presence in or even near production machinery could render the otherwise acceptable products non-kosher.
If the allegations are true, kosher certifiers' competence and reliability may be called into question not just at PCA, but at all food production facilities where pests and mold may also be present.
However, Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Executive Rabbinic Coordinator at the OU, asserts that the OU is "taking the issue very seriously."
In a Wednesday phone conversation with VIN News, Rabbi Elefant said that OU kosher inspectors are trained to spot and report unsanitary conditions and pests such as those that allegedly triggered the salmonella outbreaks at the PCA's production facilities.
Case in point, the rabbi claimed that a few weeks ago, the same OU inspector formerly assigned to PCA found unsanitary conditions in a plant unrelated to the salmonella outbreak—and "right away told the owners to fix the problem or face removal of certification."
Rabbi Elefant explained that "salmonella is caused by a microorganism. This contamination can only be detected by a lab, and by federal and state inspectors. Our mashgichim will report anything visible, but contamination requiring testing can only be done by the appropriate authorities following the appropriate testing methods. The bottom line is, the Orthodox Union will not accept filth, contamination, or anything that can prove to be a health hazard. We will pull our certification from companies where such contamination is found."
Still, the fact remains that a month-long FDA investigation uncovered multiple violations at the plant in question, with the most disturbing revealing that products had been shipped after salmonella had been found in 2007 and 2008. The OU withdrew its certification from PCA because of those violations, according to Rabbi Elefant.
According to the most recent information, PCA discovered the dangerous bacteria at its Georgia plant as far back as 2006.…
Should the OU be responsible for detecting microscopic organisms?
I think the answer is no. (Of course, the funnier answer is, "they check for bugs, don't they?")
In the much more flagrant Agriprocessors case, the OU missed or ignored clear violations of law. It missed open mistreatment of workers, child laborers in the plant as young as 13 years old, and dozens of health and safety violations. It also endorsed animal mistreatment and torture.
The OU pulled its supervision from Peanut America, but only after people died, and only after the company's violations were made public by the media.
Why "frum" (read "heimish," haredi, Orthodox) consumers think the OU should have somehow acted strongly in the case of peanut butter when these same haredim urged the OU to ignore Agriprocessors' copious violations of US law escapes me.
If Peanut America should lose its hechsher because of violations of state and federal health and safety codes, so should Agriprocessors.
And that is something the Orthodox Jewish community seems unable to understand.
This scandal should also be a lesson to the many non-Jewish consumers of kosher products who buy those products because of perceived health benefits and "purity."
Kosher does not equal healthy. Kosher does not equal pure. Kosher means edible according to Jewish ritual law – nothing more, but sometimes less.
[Hat Tip – a reader.]