ISRAEL MOVES TO MAKE KASHRUTH PROCESS MORE KOSHER

FROM JANGLO

Israel moves to make kashrut process more kosher
Posted by Zev Stub

Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett, in his capacity as Minister of Religious Services, and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau on Monday announced a list of reforms designed to improve the kashrut services provided by local rabbinates.

The changes will aim to eliminate a conflict of interest and restore public faith in the system of declaring food kosher.

There will be three different levels of kashrut for kosher food operations, and kashrut supervisors will be employed by external companies.

The proposal is expected to reach the legislative channels in the near future, and the ministry believes the reforms will be implemented within six months. Deputy Minister of Religious Services Eli Ben-Dahan, who presented the details of the plan, said this was just the beginning of restoring public faith in religious institutions.

The plan is to establish external companies, which will hire kashrut supervisors on behalf of the local religious councils, and then have them sent to supervise food operations on behalf of the company. Currently, each supervisor is hired by the business owner, a method that has been criticized by the High Court of Justice for fear of conflicts of interest.

Supervisors may be forced to toughen procedures or even take away a business’s kosher certificate due to deficiencies that are discovered, but since supervisors receives a salary from the owner they’re liable to turn a blind eye to any shortcomings. The ministry also said the new regulations would improve the social conditions of kashrut supervisors.

Another change will the addition of two extra grades to the kashrut of a business. The regular certification will remain the same, but now there will be mehuderet (stringent) and mehadrin min hamehadrin (very scrupulous).