K A S H R U T . C O M_©

[Chodosh] Update from the Guide to Chodosh

November 21, 2018 from Yoseph Herman, The Guide to Chodosh, Hot Line 718-305-5133. Email: yherman@earlthlink.net

THE ONGOING WINTER WHEAT-SPRING WHEAT PROBLEM: THE ONGOING WINTER WHEAT-SPRING WHEAT PROBLEM: MATZOS, GEFILTE FISH, PRETZELS, CAKES AND CRACKERS
"Two years ago, we became aware of a new problem. Namely, since the inception of the Guide more than 40 years ago, people in the milling and baking industry had a rule of thumb that all soft and crumbly baked products including crackers, matzos and pretzels are always made from winter wheat which is Yoshon. We now learned that over the last few years the winter wheat crops have been so low in protein, that many of these products now have spring wheat flour mixed in, making them possibly Chodosh. Even ingredients labeled “winter wheat” may, by law, have even more than 50% spring wheat content! This has required us to reexamine all products that have in the past been labeled Yoshon following the old rules. This reexamination is an ongoing process. This issue of the Guide lists those crackers, matzos, items using matzo meal (such as gefilte fish) and pretzels that have at the time of this printing been confirmed as being Yoshon."

• "MATZOS From our investigations it appears that chametz matzos and matzo meal, sold all year around is from winter wheat and is Yoshon. However, Pesach matzos are different. A few hand matzo bakeries have been using flour that may be Chodosh. Therefore, we suggest that you confirm with the mashgichim of pesach matzos that their bakery only produces Yoshon."
• "GEFILTE FISH Since, as noted above, chametz matzos are Yoshon, all chametz gefilte fish where the only potential problem is matzo meal are also Yoshon. However, those gefilte fish that list bread crumbs in the ingredients or are made for Pesach need to be individually investigated to be sure that they are Yoshon."
• "PRETZELS, CAKES AND CRACKERS We have found that the situation for pretzels is far more complex. There are many different pretzel flours in use. We cannot recommend any pretzels as Yoshon unless specifically certified as such by the mashgiach. The same caution is recommended for crackers and cookies."