The following Yoshon information regarding is Rabbi Eiditz on August 30, 2013.
START OF THE CHODOSH SEASON
According to this week’s report from the US Department of Agriculture, the delayed start of the harvest of the Chodosh crops is finally in full swing. Based on these reports, I will recommend the following cutoffs for the forthcoming Chodosh season:
- Freshly baked items using spring wheat, including breads, challahs, bagels, rolls, pizza and some cakes and cookies may be Chodosh in the Midwest after the PURCHASE DATE of Aug 18. Elsewhere in the US, this date would be Aug 25. Packaged foods from spring wheat may be Chodosh after the PACKING date of Aug 18, or the PURCHASE date of Sept 1.
- Noodles and pasta may be Chodosh after the PACKING date of Aug 25 and the PURCHASE date of Sept 8.
- Barley, such as pearled barley, may be Chodosh after the PACKING date of Aug 18 and PURCHASE date of Sept 1.
- Oats: According to the O-U all oats used in cereals may have a Chodosh PACKING date of Sept 1 or later, PURCHASE DATE of Sept 15 or later. The oats in General Mills cereals, such as the oats in Cheerios, this Chodosh PACKING date is Oct 1 or later, PURCHASE DATE of Oct 15 or later. (These dates may be revised to a later time in the future. These dates also apply for General Mills cereals sold under the Nestle label in Israel.) This includes all oats used in both cold cereals that one eats with cold milk or hot cereals such as cooked oatmeal. The O-U advisory does not apply to oats used in other products such as oat flour used in cookies. For such non-cereal products our recommended oats cutoff is the PACKING date of Aug 4 and the PURCHASE date of Aug 28. Rabbi Yoseph Herman, Telephone Hot Line 718-305-5133
