In general, can I look at the ingredient statement of a food to determine if it is kosher or kosher for Passover?
No. These statements are not designed to provide kosher information. Many ingredients, such as glycerin, may be derived from either kosher or non-kosher sources, and one cannot tell from the label. Ingredients such as citric acid and sorbitol can be made from chametz or kitniyos. Moreover, some ingredients may incorporate sub-ingredients that are not required to be listed on the label at all. What exactly is in that “natural flavor” anyway? Even if a product is made from all-kosher or all-pareve ingredients, it can be rendered non-kosher or dairy by the processing equipment.
Practically speaking, any processed food not certified as kosher for Passover by a reliable kosher certifying agency may include chametz ingredients and should not be eaten on Pesach. Every year, OU Kosher certifies thousands of products with a special OU-P (P for Passover). The OU-P symbol indicates that all the ingredients have been approved for their Passover status, the production equipment has been inspected and is Passover-compliant, and an OU inspector was present for a special Passover production.
Can I buy chewing gum without a hechsher?
There are two kashrus concerns when it comes to chewing gum: the flavor and the texture. Gum flavor is usually made from glycerin (sometimes called glycerol). Glycerin is a fat-derived ingredient, which could be derived from animal fat. Animal fat glycerin is often cheaper than vegetable glycerin, so there is an incentive for the manufacturer to use it. The texture of chewing gum is derived from gum base. The US government’s Code of Federal Regulations has a list of different masticatory substances that qualify for use as gum base, and they do not legally need to be listed on the chewing gum package. Those substances also can be derived from animal-based products. As such, it is not recommended to buy chewing gum that doesn’t have kosher supervision.
For Pesach, obviously gum would require special Passover certification.
Do plain canned vegetables require a hechsher? What could be wrong with them?
In past decades it was fairly safe to buy certain vegetables without a hechsher. A typical cannery would run only one kind of vegetable and close down during the off-season. In more recent years, canneries have tried to remain open year-round to maximize profits, and so the likelihood has increased that canned vegetables are heated in equipment used for other products as well, some possibly non-kosher. For example, in addition to their vegetable production, many canneries process soups that include pasta (chametz), and products such as pork and beans or non-kosher cheese sauce. A mashgiach once walked into a plant that was supposedly dedicated to a single vegetable and found that in the off-season it was producing shrimp soup and alligator soup!
I saw a package of marshmallows with an unfamiliar hechsher listing “kosher gelatin” in the ingredients. What does the package mean by “kosher gelatin”?
The gelatin probably came from a cow that was not slaughtered according to halachah or possibly even from a pig. There are some opinions that allow for this, provided the bones were adequately dried, but the accepted custom as established by the leading rabbis in America including Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, and Rabbi Aharon Kotler, zt”l, is to view this gelatin as not kosher. There is gelatin available nowadays from kosher-slaughtered animals. The only way to know which type of gelatin was used is to rely on the kosher certifier. Fish gelatin (which also requires a reliable hechsher) is usually identified as “fish gelatin.” It is worth noting that it is not a good idea to rely on an unfamiliar hechsher. For Pesach, the product would require special Passover certification.
Why do kashrus agencies supervise products that do not need a hechsher, like water or aluminum foil?
If by “products that do not need a hechsher” you mean items that have absolutely no connection to food—indeed, they do not certify such products. Otherwise, it is important to remember that there is no hard-and-fast category of food-related products that do not need a hechsher. To say that a product does not need supervision is essentially to make a judgment call that as far as we know, the product is usually made in ways that pose no kosher concerns. Are these “as far as we know” assumptions fail-safe? By no means. Production plants manufacture products in unexpected ways all the time. Some products that now need supervision were possibly acceptable without a hechsher in the past. Many dairies, for instance, also bottle water, and some of those have switched from filtering the water to pasteurizing it on the same equipment used for the milk. By supervising these products, kashrus agencies are able to confirm that the current processes used to manufacture them do not negatively affect their kosher status.
May I place diced onions in sealed packaging to avoid the sakanah (danger) of eating peeled onions that were left exposed overnight?
The Gemara (Niddah 17a) writes that one who eats shelled eggs, peeled onions or peeled garlic that were left overnight endangers his life and will be judged as a person who took his own life. The Gemara explains that the danger associated with these foods is that a ruach ra’ah (damaging spirit) rests upon them and this applies even if the peeled onion was placed in sealed packaging. The only exception mentioned by the Gemara is if part of the roots or peel is left on the onion. Tosafos (Shabbos 141a, s.v. Hani) write that the sakanah applies to diced onions as well. However, Rishonim discuss that if there are other ingredients mixed in with the onions, one may be lenient. Iggeros Moshe (YD 3:20) writes that industrially produced products are not subject to this sakanah. One may, therefore, purchase frozen packages of diced onions.
In stores, you can find prepared Seder plates with all the symbolic foods including a peeled hard-boiled egg. If the egg was mixed with other ingredients (such as salt), there is no sakanah. Additionally, the sakanah only applies if the shell was completely removed, but if one piece of shell remains on the egg then there is no sakanah.
Does the halachah of not eating onions that were peeled and left overnight apply to red onions and shallots as well? How about leeks and scallions?
Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, who served as senior posek at OU Kosher for nearly thirty years, maintained that the halachah applies to both red and white onions as well as to shallots, but not to leeks and scallions.
I bought hand soap that is made with tallow (animal fat). Is there any problem with using this soap during the year? Do I need to buy special hand soaps for Pesach?
Although it is permissible to derive benefit from non-kosher animal fats, the Vilna Gaon (Biur HaGra, OC 326) prohibited rubbing tallow on one’s body for the following reason: The Gemara (Shabbos 86a) states that just as drinking is forbidden on Yom Kippur, anointing is also forbidden because “sichah k’shesiyah (anointing oneself has the same halachic status as drinking).” The Vilna Gaon maintained that the principle of sichah k’shesiyah is not limited to Yom Kippur but applies all year as well. Just as it is forbidden to consume non-kosher oil, rubbing non-kosher oil on one’s body is also prohibited.
In contrast, Rabbeinu Tam ruled that the concept of sichah k’shesiyah applies only on Yom Kippur and there is no year-round restriction of smearing non-kosher oil on one’s body. The Mishnah Berurah (Biur Halachah 326, s.v. b’she’ar) writes that the prevailing custom is to follow the lenient position of Rabbeinu Tam. There are, however, some individuals who adhere to the stringent opinion of the Vilna Gaon and do not use soap made from animal fat.
Rabbi Yosef Ber Soloveitchik reported that the Beis Halevi was stringent in this regard. However, the Aruch Hashulchan (YD 117:29) writes that nowadays, even the Vilna Gaon would agree that washing one’s body with non-kosher soap is permissible. That is because current manufacturing procedures render the fats in soap completely inedible. Since the non-kosher ingredients in soap are no longer forbidden, washing with non-kosher soap is also acceptable.
Concern over using soaps that may contain chametz derivatives during Pesach is discussed among contemporary halachic authorities as well. Pesach is more stringent than the rest of the year, in that noticeable chametz is permissible only when it is rendered nifsal meachilas kelev (inedible to a dog). Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv is quoted as recommending being stringent in this area during Pesach and not applying these soaps to one’s skin, even if one is not vigilant all year round. However, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach were lenient on this issue regarding both Pesach and the rest of the year.
This article was partially adapted from OU Kosher’s Halacha Yomis, a daily email containing brief halachic tidbits. To sign up to receive Halacha Yomis, visit oukosher.org/halacha-yomis/.
This article was also partially adapted from OU Kosher’s Instagram series featuring Rabbi Eli Gersten, recorder of OU pesak and policy, and Rabbi Chaim Goldberg, OU Kosher rabbinic coordinator. Follow @oukosher for more kosher advice clips.