THIS SECTION IS FOR NEWS AND INTERESTING STORIES RELATED TO FOOD, NUTRITION AND FOOD PROCESSING. THEY ARE NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO KOSHER BUT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO THE KOSHER CONSUMER, MANUFACTURER OR MASHGIACH.
July 22, 2019 - from Anthropocene Magazine:
"First, the Good News. Cities that have banned consumer plastic bags have seen a decrease in the number of bags found in nature. Abandoned bags are not only an eyesore, they are also detrimental to birds, fish, and other fauna as the bags make their way from cities to oceans—and we definitely don’t need to add to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch."
"Now, the Bad News. Despite the local clean-up factor, the environmental benefits of banning plastic bags remain to be seen. A recent life-cycle study from CIRAIG looked at the consequences of banning conventional, single-use, consumer plastic bags (made of high-density polyethylene) from the city of Montreal. The results challenged the conventional understanding of banning these bags."
"Results showed that all replacement bags had higher indicator scores for impacts on human health, ecosystem quality, and fossil-fuel depletion. Therefore, by definition, only reusable bags have the potential to be an advantageous switch from single-use consumer plastic bags—and that potential is realized only by reusing the bags many times: as frequently as 9,400 times for cotton bags or a more reasonable 102 times for unwoven polypropylene bags.
The Unintended Consequences: It turns out that those much-maligned conventional plastic bags have very high reuse rates (as much as 77.7 percent), mostly as garbage-bin liners. When they are banned, people buy more conventional, polyethylene garbage bags. And there’s the kicker. While it was already difficult for reusable bags to be advantageous over the banned plastic bags, in this scenario, even if you reuse your reusable bags an infinite number of times, the impacts of using more garbage bags drown out the advantageous environmental effects.
Why: The conventional plastic bag was designed for a single use—it is thin and light, and its life cycle requires little material and energy. Moreover, its reuse as a garbage bag at the end of its life significantly reduces its potential impacts in comparison to the other types of bag, whose material and energy requirements are much higher."
July 22, 2019 - from The Lancet:
"A franchisee has delayed the scheduled opening of his Burgerim restaurant in Dearborn amid backlash from the Arab-American community over the popular burger company’s Israeli roots. "
"Sam Zahr, a Lebanese-American who lives in Dearborn, said he was too worried to open the restaurant on Greenfield Road after his kids were bullied and he received threatening messages from those opposed to the burger chain founded in Israel. " T
"he Dearborn Burgerim location has stirred controversy for months, striking at the heart of the charged debate over Israeli-Palestinian relations. The announced restaurant opening has elicited back-and-forth comments on Facebook posts from those spreading the message to boycott and others just hoping for a good burger."
July 22, 2019 - from Specialty Food News and Eater and The Lancet:
"A new study from the medical journal Lancet reveals that there aren’t enough fruits and vegetables available on the planet to for everyone to meet the World Health Organization’s nutritional recommendations, reports Eater. In 2015, only 55 percent of the global population had average fruit and vegetable availability above WHO’s minimum target."
"The study suggests that to remedy this, the world must increase production of fruits and vegetables, develop technologies and practices to reduce food waste, and increase existing efforts to educate consumers on healthy diets. "
July 18, 2019 from the Washington Post and Costa Rican Ministry of Health:
Translated by Google Translate: The Ministry of Health, through the Directorate Regulatory Products Health Interest, alert the general population on the sale of products packaged in bottles with allusive labels "Guaro Gran Apache", "Firewater Red Star", "Guaro Montano "," Firewater Red Baron "," Aguardiente Timbuka "and" Aguardiente Molotov ", which according to results from laboratory samples are adulterated with methanol.
On 5 July, the Ministry issued an alert adulterated with methanol of a product identified on the label as "Guaro Montano" according to the collected samples. Further to this alert it found that other products with labels that indicate "Brandy Red Baron", "brandy Molotov" and "Aguardiente Timbuka," are also adulterated with methanol. Therefore samples were taken similar products and adulteration found in packaged and labeled as "Guaro Gran Apache" and "Firewater Red Star".
Note that the "Guaro Gran Apache", "Firewater Red Star", "Guaro Montano", "Firewater Red Baron", "Aguardiente Timbuka and" Aguardiente Molotov "are registered with the Ministry of Health, so it is suspected that in the domestic market of such marks circulate counterfeit products, however it impossible to distinguish between the original and adulterated, making use of the precautionary principle, the following recommendations were issued:
Recommendations to the general population
The Ministry of Health is carrying out the actions to reduce the exposure of consumers to the products adulterated, as well as related investigations, in coordination with other institutions, to determine the subjects related to this adulteration.
Ed. note: Kashrut.com is posting this as a health alert. We do not have any information on the kosher status of these products.July 23, 2019 from the The JC:
"Rosemans, which had its kashrut licence rescinded after being found to have regularly ordered non-kosher meat, has opted to run an unlicensed business."
"The deli at the centre of Liverpool's kashrut crisis has turned down options which would have allowed it to regain rabbinical certification, according to the local kashrut authority."
"In a notice made public this afternoon, Liverpool Kashrut Commission reported that “following detailed guidance in conjunction with the Chief Rabbi and Dayan Gelley, head of London Beth Din, the LKC put forward several options to the owners of Rosemans Delicatessen to enable them to obtain a kashrut licence."
"'They have decided not to adopt any of those options and to run Rosemans as an unlicensed business. We are therefore required to advise the community that Rosemans is no longer under the supervision of LKC.'"
June 20, 2019 from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
Robert Kaye, the owner of Roseman’s Delicatessen, was found dead in Manchester, England days after his store was accused of selling nonkosher meat and poultry in the main outlet for kosher food in Liverpool, England.
June 18, 2019 from the Jewish News:
"Liverpool’s Jewish community has been rocked by the news that the city’s main kosher food outlet has been selling non-kosher meat and poultry."
"In a letter to residents Rabbi Natan Fagleman of the Liverpool Kashrut Commission, which incorporates the Liverpool Shechita Board, outlined how 'serious breaches of kashrut have taken place at Roseman’s Delicatessen'. "
"Jewish residents were urged not to use “all utensils that have ever been used to cook meat/poultry bought at Roseman’s” and that “all food bought under the LKC licence should be discarded,” with the exception of chickens with a Manchester Beth Din label and pre-packed sealed meat products from other suppliers. "
"'From Tuesday morning Roseman's will only be licensed to sell pre-packed with an existing reliable Hechsher (certification)… No fresh products will be produced at Roseman’s. We believe that in this way the community will have access to fresh meant and a retail kosher outlet which is crucial to its survival.'"
Link to letter is here
July 23, 2019 - from Food & Wine :
" Tofurky, the Good Food Institute, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and the American Civil Liberties Union" are seeking to strike down a law in Arkansaw whick prevents plant-based products from being called "meat".
"Arkansas’s meat labeling law, which is set to take effect tomorrow, would impose fines on brands using meat, dairy, or rice words on products that don’t fit the classic definition of these terms."
"The lawsuit was filed on Tofurky’s behalf by the ACLU, who took a similar stance in favor of consumer rights and against meat producers' attempts to restrict competition."
July 19, 2019 - from Food & Wine :
"In the food world, the desire to be environmentally-friendly is often complicated by the need for safety. For instance, with food waste, leftover items often get tossed because of the risk of contamination. No one likes trashing food, but it’s better than ending up in the hospital. However, people can be overcautious, too — which is part of the reason we’ve seen a push to clarify “Best If Used By” dates on packaged food. It’s a small, common-sense change with environmental benefits. And yet, even the FDA recently admitted that all of this 'is not an exact science.'"
"These lessons are reflected in a new law out of California: On July 12, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill making it easier for diners to bring their own reusable cups and containers to restaurants to help avoid single-use packaging.
"The state now allows restaurants to fill customer containers as long as they are either isolated from the serving surface or the surface is sanitized after each fill. Furthermore, new, more environmentally-friendly rules have also been put in place for 'temporary food facilities' found at places like markets or festivals. Previously, they were required to offer single-use items like disposable utensils. Now, local enforcement agencies can let these food facilities clean and sanitize multiuse options if they see fit."
July 18, 2019 - from Arutz 7 :
"For first time, Tzomet Institute grants technological approval to Shabbat hot water system for two guest houses in Israel."
"At the Ramot Shapira Guest House and in the Keshet Guest House in the Golan Heights, hot water can now be used on Shabbat according to Jewish law."
"Tzomet Institute engineers examined the heating system and found that the electric boilers are shut down during Shabbat and holidays by an astronomical timer programmed for decades ahead. The system works with heat exchangers that separate the heated water from the incoming water."
"The incoming water is heated only by the walls and pipes of the boiler, and not directly from the fire. Therefore the water entering the system has only the status of a "second vessel" that many halakhic authorities allow to be reheated on Shabbat."
"Tzomet Institute head Rabbi Menachem Perl says at hotels many people accidentally open the hot water tap on Shabbat, possibly igniting a new spark and thereby desecrating the Sabbath."
April 3, 2019 - from Yeshiva World and Kosher Germany :
Rabbi Tuvia Hood z"l was nivtar suddenly in April while in London. KSI and A.Hochwald-Hod certified companies have been taken over by KF London.
July 8, 2019 - from Fast Company:
"Solar Foods, a Finland-based company, has developed a process to use renewable electricity and CO2 to produce a healthy ingredient that looks like wheat flour and contains 50% protein. The company is currently gathering data to apply for a food license from the EU later this year and plans to begin commercial production in 2021."
"Food made through fermentation, like beer or lab-grown meat, currently relies on feeding plant sugars to microbes. The new process replaces those sugars with carbon."
"The process uses solar power to split water through electrolysis in a bioreactor, creating hydrogen that can give microbes energy as they’re also fed carbon. The microbes produce a food that’s composed of roughly 20-25% carbs, 5-10% fat, and 50% protein."
"The new protein powder, called Solein, claims to be 100 times more climate-friendly than any animal or even plant-based alternative. It can yield 10 times more usable protein per acre than soy production, the company says."
Solein "as an ingredient in products like protein shakes, perhaps, or plant-based yogurt."
"Further in the future, the ingredient could be used to 3D-print new foods or used as a feedstock for “clean meat” grown in bioreactors."
"Because the process is fully disconnected from traditional agriculture, the company is also working with the European Space Agency as a potential source of food for astronauts in space (this concept was something that NASA first considered in the middle of the 20th century but never brought to life). The company also envisions eventually working in areas that haven’t been able to support agriculture in the past, such as deserts or the Arctic. It might spawn new business models in the future: If you sell the company solar power from your roof, for example, you might be paid back in food."
" The company plans to start preengineering its first commercial plant later this year and to have 50 million meals’ worth of product sold in supermarkets within two years."
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