K A S H R U T . C O M_©

The following kashrus advisory on how to purchase ice cream is from the COR Detroit on July 29, 2015.

ICE CREAM and FROZEN YOGURT STORES often claim they are Kosher and post Kosher certification letters, which the unsuspecting consumer may assume attest to Kosher supervision of the store and its products. However, upon closer inspection the consumer will see that in most cases the letters refer only to specific products or ingredients which are factory produced under supervision, and are certified only when in their original sealed packaging bearing Kosher marking. Once the unsupervised store opens the packaging, the certification is no longer valid. Unless the consumer verifies that there is actual on-site reliable Rabbinical supervision of the entire individual retail store, no products should be considered Kosher except for those in their original containers bearing Kosher certification.
The following are some stores in the Detroit area that are not under supervision: TCBY, Haagen-Dazs, Sweet Earth, Bloomberry and Macy’s Fruigurt.
When purchasing hard pack ice cream or yogurt from the original container, the consumer should ask to see the Kosher certification mark on the container, and also should check that there are no drippings from other flavors that may have fallen into the container. In addition, the scoop should be thoroughly washed.
Soft serve ice cream or yogurt should not be purchased from an unsupervised store, because of the inability to verify that Kosher mix was put into the machine.