Q

I am careful to eat only foods that are pas Yisrael and bishul Yisrael. What is the status of Post Cereals regarding these two matters?

Let us first acquaint the readers with these two concepts. Pas Yisrael refers to bread or cake made under the auspices of a Jew — that is, a Jew was involved in at least a portion of the baking process. (The usual method of involvement is for the Jew to kindle the flame). Bishul Yisrael refers to cooked foods made with Jewish participation. This stricture applies only to food that meets two conditions: it must be food that is not eaten in its raw state, and it must be not just a simple food, but food that would be served at a royal table. For example, a cup of coffee is not distinguished, and one can buy coffee even if it was brewed by a non-Jew.

The necessary degree of involvement is a matter of dispute among the Sages. The primary disagreement concerns cooked foods. The Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) rules that it is not sufficient for a Jew to light the fire, as is sufficient with bread. Rather, he must actually put the food on the flame. The Rema disagrees and states that just as lighting the flame is sufficient for baking bread, so it is sufficient for cooking.

Commercially baked bread or cake is termed pas paltar ("bread of a baker") and need not be baked by a Jew. Still, there are many individuals who prefer to be strict and eat only breads baked by a Jew, even commercial breads.

The question arises whether cereals are fit to be served at a king's table and whether they are at all considered bread-like (whether they have tzuras hapas).

Post Cereals, a division of Kraft Foods, has been under OK certification for over thirty years. Until recently, the cereals were pas Yisrael and bishul Yisrael only east of the Rockies. We can now report that all Post cereals, with the exception of the Great Grains line, are pas Yisrael and bishul Yisrael.

Recently the OK received an inquiry from Ms. Gaby Kupfer, a twelve-year-old yeshivah girl from Milwaukee, WI. Noting that the commonly said blessing on pineapples is ha'adamah rather than ha'etz, she wondered why this should be the case. Pineapples grow on a tree, and the tree is harvested after twenty months. It is replanted after two or three harvests.

Rabbi Avrohom Juravel, OK Rabbinic Coordinator, answered as follows: The pineapple tree is cut down three years after it is planted. The reason is that the tree will grow wildly afterwards, and the pineapples will not be harvested properly. At a session of the Bais Din Tzedek of the Eida Hachareidis in Jerusalem, it was ruled that the proper blessing for pineapple is ha'adamah. The same ruling was made for papaya.

I have noticed that some Fresh Express lettuce bags have an OK symbol while others bear no kosher certification. What is the significance of the OK seal on Fresh Express vegetables?

Fresh Express markets various kinds of lettuce, which are sealed in closed bags. Only those bags bearing the OK seal, which appears next to the date stamp, are under our supervision. The reason for certification of vegetables is to rule out the presence of bugs, whose consumption involves Biblical prohibitions. The OK mashgiach's purpose is to establish a halachic presumption (chazakah) that there are no bugs in the batch being packaged with our certification. He accomplishes this by inspecting a representative sample of the batch being produced under our supervision. Enough of the lettuce is checked so that we can be absolutely certain to the degree mandated by halachah that no bugs are present. Consumers do not need to check the lettuce on their own.