K A S H R U T . C O M_©

Bumble Bee agrees to plead guilty and pay millions for price fixing

May 9, 2017- from the SeafoodSource:

"Bumble Bee Foods has agreed to plead guilty to one count of price fixing as well as pay a USD 25 million (EUR 22.8 million) fine for its alleged role in conspiring to set the cost of canned and pouched tuna in the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in a statement on 8 May."
"According to the Department of Justice, executives from Bumble Bee, Thai Union Group’s Chicken of the Sea and StarKist – known collectively as the “big three” because, combined, the companies own 70 to 80 percent of the U.S. multibillion-dollar packaged tuna industry – all took part in meetings between 2011 and 2013 that involved discussions and strategizing around how 'to fix, raise, and maintain the prices of packaged seafood' in the United States."

Fake ‘kosher’ cheese at kids’ camps leads to criminal charges

May 10, 2017- from the TheStar:

"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has charged Creation Foods and its vice-president, Kefir Sadiklar, with sending cheddar cheese falsely described as “kosher” to Jewish summer camps in June 2015."
"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has charged Creation Foods and its vice-president, Kefir Sadiklar, with sending cheddar cheese falsely described as “kosher” to Jewish summer camps in June 2015. The agency alleges forged documents were created to make it seem like the cheese adhered to Jewish dietary laws."
"The regulatory body, which polices food labels across Canada, has laid five charges against Sadiklar and his family-run Woodbridge-based distributor related to cheese products sent to two camps — Camp Moshava near Peterborough and Camp Northland-B’nai Brith in Haliburton."
"The agency alleges that forged letters of kosher certification were slipped into boxes of non-kosher Gay Lea Ivanhoe shredded 'Ivanhoe Old Cheddar Cheese' that Creation delivered to “strictly kosher” Jewish summer camps in June 2015. Kosher products are typically sold at a higher price than non-kosher products."
"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency takes action if a label gives a false impression, such as saying a food is kosher when it isn’t. But it’s up to certifying organizations like the council to enforce the requirements for kosher food."

Israeli Supreme Court demands chief rabbinate implement kashrut reform by September 2018

May 10, 2017- from the Jerusalem Post:

The High Court of Justice issued an ultimatum to the Chief Rabbinate on Wednesday instructing it to end the practice whereby restaurants and other food businesses directly pay the salaries of kashrut supervisors by September 2018."
"This phenomenon, which has led to sever malpractice and corruption within the kashrut industry, is one of the most egregious problems with the chief rabbinate’s kashrut supervision service and it is hoped that ending the business-supervisor nexus will lead to improvements in kashrut standards. "
"These recommendations were adopted by the Council of the Chief Rabbinate last month."

European Jewish Congress Slams ‘Scandalous’ Belgian Decision to Ban Kosher Slaughter of Meat

May 6, 2017- from the JewishPress:

"The European Jewish Congress has strongly condemned a decision made in the Wallon region in southern Belgium to effectively ban Shechita, the Jewish form of humane slaughter for meat."
"EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor called the decision as “scandalous,” and said it stands in opposition to the European Union’s freedom of religion laws."
"On Friday, the Environment Committee of the Wallon Parliament in Belgium’s French-speaking region voted to ban all slaughter without stunning, effective September 2019."
"The Parliament’s plenary is now set to debate the issue later this month. A similar move has been proposed by the parliament in the Flanders region as well."
"The proposal is to be presented later this month to a vote in the plenary of the Wallon parliament in Namur."
Kantor said: "It attacks the very core of our culture and religious practice and our status as equal citizens with equal rights in a democratic society. It gives succor to anti-Semites and to those intolerant of other communities and faiths. 'We call on legislators to step back from the brink of the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights in Belgium since the Nazi occupation of the country in WWII'"
"'It attacks the very core of our culture and religious practice and our status as equal citizens with equal rights in a democratic society. It gives succor to anti-Semites and to those intolerant of other communities and faiths.'"
"'We call on legislators to step back from the brink of the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights in Belgium since the Nazi occupation of the country in WWII.'"

Council of Israeli Chief Rabbinate approves kashrut reforms

May 3, 2017- from the Arutz 7:

"he Council of the Chief Rabbinate accepted in full on Wednesday recommendations to reform the rabbinate’s kashrut licensing and supervision system made by a special advisory committee and published by Chief Rabbi David Lau last week."
"The reforms could reduce corruption and costs within the current system and increase the reliability of the rabbinate’s kashrut service, although critics have argued that only a repeal of the Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly over the industry will have a real and lasting impact."

Israeli Chief rabbi announces sweeping changes to kashrut supervision

April 23, 2017- from the IsraelHayom:

Israeli Chief Rabbi Lau is recommending reforms to the kosher supervision system to "eliminate an existing conflict of interest and ultimately reduce the cost of operating a food venue, resulting in lower prices for customers."
Lau's plan will allow tens of thousands of food businesses in Israel -- including restaurants, cafes, pizzerias, falafel stands, and other types of venues that serve food to choose between one of two new models of kashrut supervision: electronic monitoring, which costs less, or the 'kashrut trustee' model."
"The inspectors will no longer be paid by the food venue owners. Business owners will pay their local rabbinate, which will hire the inspectors as contract service providers rather than as employees of the local council. The reform is expected to eliminate the ties that exist today between business owners and inspectors, as well as the conflict of interest that is currently in place due to the inspectors being paid by the people whose businesses they approve."

Ritual Slaughter Bans Don’t Help Animals — They Target Jews and Muslims

April 28, 2017- from the Forward:

"Many worry that a new proposal to ban ritual slaughter in the Belgian region of Flanders is yet another attempt to mask anti-Semitism and Islamophobia with a disingenuous argument for animal welfare — and they’re right to be concerned. The draft law requires pre-slaughter electrical stunning of sheep and poultry. This proposed bans violate kosher and halal laws, which don’t allow the killing of injured animals for food." "This proposed ban is one of many historical attempts, some successful, to limit religious freedoms for Jews and Muslims."
" It is unjust and inconsistent to single out ritual slaughter in the face of far more egregious practices in Belgium, such as those on food production factory farms, mink fur farms, and in sport hunting. And, for societies aspiring to support the most humane forms of slaughter, foremost research already confirms that ritual slaughter can be humane when performed correctly. Dr. Temple Grandin, a world-renowned animal welfare expert who both has studied and written extensively about stun and non-stun slaughter, has repeatedly asserted this."

5-Hour Energy Counterfeiter gets 7 Years in Federal Prison

April 23, 2017- from the NutraIngredients:

A defendant in the 5-Hour Energy counterfeit Case, Walid Jamil, has been sentenced to 7 years in prison and an additional 3 years of supervised release. "This punishment goes on top of a $10 million civil judgment against him, as well as $555,801.32 in criminal restitution to Living Essentials, the makers of 5-Hour Energy."

Jewish leader in Belgium compares measure banning ritual slaughter to the Nazi occupation

April 23, 2017- from the EuropeanJewishPress:

"Philippe Markiewicz, president of the Consistory, declared: “The last assault on ritual slaughter was in October 1940 under the Nazi occupation because they knew how important it was for Jews.,” He made the statement while addressing the Parliament of Wallonia, one of the regions of federal Belgium."
"Carlo Di Antonio, the Walloon Region’s Minister responsible for animal welfare, said that an agreement on effectively banning such slaughter was reached and will be implemented in June 2018."

Toxic stew: Police seize millions of euros in fake food, drink

April 26, 2017- from the Yahoo News and SophiaGlobe:

"Some 230 million euros ($250 million) worth of "potentially harmful" counterfeit food products and over 26 millions litres of beverages were impounded in a four-month joint Europol and Interpol operation involving 61 countries."
"In total 13 million items were seized, and 13 people arrested during 50,000 checks carried out at shops, markets, airports, seaports and industrial estates from December 1 to March 31."
"Criminals will fake any type of food and drink with no thought to the human cost as long as they make a profit."

Le Pen says she'd ban shechitah

April 25, 2017- from the Arutz 7:

"Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate in the French presidential elections, said she would ban halal slaughter of animals if she is elected, along with any other method of ritual slaughter without stunning"
"Le Pen, who finished second with 21.5 percent of the vote in the first round of the elections Sunday, made the statement Tuesday on halal slaughter during a campaign visit at a meat market near Paris. She did not mention shechitah, the kosher slaughter of animals, but did say she wanted to outlaw any slaughter of animals without stunning."
"Le Pen in the past has said she would impose limitations on expressions of Judaism in France not because she regards them as a threat, but to preserve the principle of equality in order to implement similar steps against the spread of Islam in France, which she and her party often describe as a 'threat.'"