ww ww VOL. d f / NO. 4 SHEVAT 5775/FEBRUARY 2015 s xc THEDaf a K ashrus A MONTHLYH NEWSLETTER FOR THE OU RABBINIC FIELD REPRESENTATIVE MILK FROM NON-KOSHER SPECIES AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE US KOSHER DAIRY INDUSTRY RABBI AVROHOM GORDIMER HORSES RC, Dairy Although horses are rou- tinely milked in some Asian countries and for exotic food “I JUST saw an article about camel milk being sold. Is this a prob- purposes in parts of Europe, lem for kosher dairy products?” “I heard that pigs are now being lactating (milk-producing) milked in Pennsylvania and there is a horse milk dairy in Missouri. horses yield only 20-33% the amount Does this affect the status of cholov stam?” of milk as dairy cows. This makes At OU headquarters, we occasionally receive such inquires, and horse dairy farming highly inefficient. This those of us who subscribe to dairy industry news media see informa- low yield, coupled with a very brief lactation period when compared with that of cows, has kept horse milk חלב tion from time to time about the potential farming and sale of milk from non-kosher animals. What are the facts on the production in the United States limited to an Amish farm ,בהמה טמאה regular milk, in any way that milks a small herd of horses and uses their milk for ,חלב סתם ground, and is the kosher status of jeopardized? soaps and cosmetics. Let’s first look at this all from an agricultural/livestock perspective DONKEYS and then from a legal perspective. Despite efforts to introduce donkey milk into the US market, donkey milk is almost nonexistent outside of PIGS countries where donkeys are one of the main forms of Pigs are impossible to milk efficiently: A pig has 8-10 small nipples, livestock. This is due to an extremely low donkey population in the each of which gives very little milk. Pigs are not cooperative when US, plus the fact that a lactating donkey only produces about 8-12 milked. Furthermore, pig milk tastes “gamy”, and there are very seri- ounces of milk per day. ous health concerns, due to pigs’ feed and habitat. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) does not permit the commercial milking CAMELS of pigs or the sale of pig milk. The average camel only produces about two gallons of milk per day, continued on page 16 Kitniyot and are all made with Mashgiach Temidi like all OU-P UP 2015 products. Kedem continues to bottle grape juice under its own name as RABBI SHMUEL SINGER well as under the Savion and Gefen labels. All these items have RC, Passover, Wine, Chocolate always been and will continue to be Mevushal. Kedem has one not THE OU continues to give certification to Passover Quinoa. Pereg Mevushal grape juice. This is bottled in 1.5 liter glass bottles and clearly labeled Non-Mevushal. Kedem also has Fresh Pressed Grape and Goldbaum will be selling OU-P quinoa as well as Setton Farms. Juice as an OU-P grape juice made without sulfites. Kedem also The OU-P quinoa is from a factory in South America which does has Pomegranate and Sparkling Pomogrape Juices with the OU-P not deal in Chametz or Kitniyot and was packed with a Mashgiach certification. Jelinek will have OU-P pear brandy in addition to tra- Temidi. Pereg will be introducing quinoa flour as a new OU-P ditional slivovitz. OU-P liqueurs will be available under the Queen item this year. The OU will also continue certifying OU Kitniyot Esther, Spirit of Solomon & Gold Shot labels. Zachlawi will have retail items as it did last year. Manischewitz will again have its Kitni OU-P arak and vodka. Zwack Slivovitz will be available with OU-P. line which includes chick peas, corn, lentil mix, peanut butter and Manischewitz continues to bake matzah in Newark, NJ as in years popcorn. Ferrero in Italy will have OU Kitniyot Nutella Spread and past. The OU has also agreed to place the OU-P on Aviv, Osem, Kinder Chocolate. Osem will also have a number of OU Kitniyot Yehuda, Rishon and Holy Land matzah products coming from items. All these products are clearly marked OU Kitniyot Ochlei Israel. The items are supervised by local Rabbanim and are satis- continued on page 18 Published by the Orthodox Union, Eleven Broadway, New York, NY 10004 Please direct your comments to RABBI YOSEF GROSSMAN, EDITOR at 212-613-8212 or [email protected] MILK camels, etc.” and “Family Equidae - horses, Agriculture, wrote to me that: continued from page 15 donkeys, etc.” PMO Definitions, section T. A regular milk processing plant licensed by Hooved Mammals’ Milk enumerates milk in brief 90-second spurts; camels are known CDFA could process camel milk provided it from these species and states, “This product to be stingy and fussy when it comes to being was clearly and effectively segregated from shall be produced according to the sanitary milked by humans. At prices of $40-130 per any cow’s or goat’s milk also being processed in standards of this Ordinance.” Although one gallon in the Western market, and the preva- the facility in order to prevent commingling חלב may initially be shocked to know that lence in the Middle East of infection from of milk across species. The camel milk would may be commercially farmed and בהמה טמאה MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), also have to be screened for the presence of drug sold according to FDA regulations, the prac- whose microbes are carried by camels, plus residues prior to processing as required by law. ticalities and restrictions are another story. taking into account environmental factors, The reason I contacted the California the prospects of camel milk ever becoming Department of Food and Agriculture is that popularly available as a retail product in LABELING REQUIREMENTS California is the state in which the nation’s North America are about nil. (Furthermore, PMO Section 4:3 stipulates that all milk and only commercial camel milk company is there are only about 5000 camels in the dairy products from animals other than cows based. (This company operates a handful of US, approximately 40 of which are milked. must be clearly labeled as such: farms consisting of six camels each.) Contrasted with the US dairy cow popula- All bottles, containers and packages contain- I also contacted Mr. Gregory Kulzer of the tion of 9,000,000, the camel dairy industry ing milk or milk products...shall be conspicu- New York State Department of Agriculture (.a practical nonentity - כמאן דליתיה is ously marked with...: The common name of and the Lewis County Legislature, who Milk from the above non-kosher animals, as the hooved mammal producing the milk shall wrote to me likewise that: does not precede the name of the milk or milk product NYS has a regulation in place that does not ,בהמות טמאות well as from the other separate well into cream (milkfat) and skim when the product is or is made from other allow the commingling of any other hooved milk, and it cannot be used for the manufac- than cattle’s milk. As an example, “Goat”, mammal with cows’ milk. This would be han- ture of rennet-set cheese. When contrasted “Sheep”, “ Water Buffalo”, or “Other Hooved dled during the routine inspection program with the dairy cow, which typically yields up Mammal” milk or milk products respectively. for dairy farms. There also labeling rules in to 13 gallons of milk per day, whose milk is This strictly-enforced regulation, which is the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance 2013 on page ideal for cream/skim milk separation and administered by all 50 states, assures that 18 that requires the proper labeling of non-cow cheese manufacture, and whose lactation Grade A milk and dairy products can never milk. period by far exceeds that of most other -without being very It is clear that federal and state dairy regula חלב בהמה טמאה contain mammals, it is eminently clear why the cow out of the kosher חלב בהמה טמאה clearly labeled as such. This law, enforced tions keep is the dairy animal in North America. Aside by countless lay- milk supply. Milk is from its ideal milk situation, the cow is the ers of dairy farm, the most regulated most manageable of all milk-producing ani- transport and THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IS of all foods, and mals and the most adaptable to the climates processing plant current statutory of all regions in North America. The milk of inspections and ONE OF THOROUGH law, which is very other animals does not stand a chance of ever verification sys- VERIFICATION FROM unlikely to ever be gaining market traction in the US so long as tems, protects the modified toward there are dairy cows here. FARM TO BOTTLE integrity of kosher leniency in this LEGAL ISSUES milk by prevent- respect, maintains מירתת The updated Grade A Pasteurized Milk ing milk of non-kosher animals from being the requisite upon which the kashrus .is based חלב סתם of Ordinance (PMO), which is the FDA’s labeled as “milk” and from its incorporation governing corpus of retail milk regulations into kosher milk and dairy products. As was explained in previous installments (please see www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/ (Grade B milk, or manufacturing milk, is of Daf HaKashrus, contemporary US dairy GuidanceRegulation/UCM291757.pdf for subject to USDA regulations, as enforced regulations by far exceed those in place when penned his famous זצ"ל a copy of the PMO), stipulates for the farm- by all 50 states.