The cRc Kosher is proud to announce that Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, our Kashrus Administrator, was featured in Mishpacha Magazine (Issue 897, February 2, 2022). In an article titled, Step Up To The Plate, Rabbi Fishbane bemoans how kosher consumers may not be as vigilant as they need to be.

“We’ve come a long way in the food market, yet in a sense, our success has become our enemy,” says Rabbi Fishbane. “Today’s generation of consumers is so accustomed to having everything out there in a kosher version that we’ve slowly let down our guard.”

Take, for example, lettuce. Are consumers aware that “triple-washed romaine” cannot be assumed to be bug-free? “Unless there is a highly reliable hechsher attesting explicitly to the fact that the lettuce is bug-free, the fact that the packaging says it was triple-washed cannot be relied on,” he says.

He also discusses the issue of party-planners. Many such planners are not under hashgacha. Rabbi Fishbane notes that, “In most events that we see today, even in the most upstanding communities, the caterer is under hashgachah, but the actual party isn’t. Why is that a problem? Because the caterer is only providing the main food on the menu. But who’s bringing in the sushi chef? Who’s overseeing the bar? Who’s ordering the specialty cookies and desserts? Who’s ensuring the rented keilim and props are kosher and they are being used exclusively for either fleishig or milchig events? That all falls on the party planner. And a party planner’s job is to please his client, to get whatever it takes to placate his clients’ fancy. If he says ‘no, I can’t do that,’ he risks losing his entire business.”

To read the full article, click here.