Prominent Kashrus Expert: Badatz Doesn’t Monitor Wax Coatings On Orange Peels

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JERUSALEM (VINnews) — At a conference for rabbis and halachic authorities held in Jerusalem this week, it was clearly stated by one of the rabbis on the kashrus committee of the Badatz Eda Charedis that their kashrus system does not monitor the kashrus status of the wax coatings on oranges and approves non-kosher materials under the claim that orange peels are not eaten. This despite the fact that some people fry orange peels and coat them in chocolate, and others use grated orange and lemon peels in baked goods, which are indeed eaten.

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The renowned kosher expert Rabbi Yochanan Reichman claims that critical kashrus information is being concealed by the kashrus committee of an important Badatz (Jewish religious supervisory body). In a fascinating article, he also discussed the problem of “scale insects on orange peels.”

The Emess site of Kol Chai requested that Rabbi Reichman kindly elaborate on the problem of scale insects on oranges. The kashrus expert explained that is a type of pest called ‘scale insects.’ Scale insects are small pests that cling to the peel of fruit without penetrating the fruit itself, and they can be found on several types of fruits, including oranges. While they are on the fruit, they appear different from many other pests, and their growth process and developmental stages differ from regular pests.

Description of the insect and its development:

The insect, when it is born, is about 0.18 mm in size and has legs. After hatching from the egg, it crawls on the fruit for a few hours, and according to experts, it can travel up to three meters. When it finds a place to rest, it inserts its proboscis into the peel of the fruit and attaches itself. At this stage, it secretes a waxy substance from its body, forming a protective shell, hence its name ‘scale insect.’ It then undergoes several developmental stages. Initially, it loses its legs and some other parts of its body and no longer has the ability to crawl. When it reaches its final stage of development, it sheds ‘exuviae.’ These shed parts remain inside the peel and attach to it, and according to scientists, parts of its body that have fallen off remain in the peel as well.

To date, routine tests of over 10 bottles of orange juice from different factories, produced at different times, have shown that during the summer months (Tammuz-Av), at least one scale insect or shed exuvia can be found in each cup.

There are rabbis who are stringent about this and require that the oranges be thoroughly washed with a cleaning agent such as dish soap and scrubbed with a scouring pad. However, many of the leading rabbis do not require any inspection at all and do not worry about washing the oranges before eating or juicing them. This is also the ruling of the Rav Beit Din (chief rabbi of the Haredi community), the renowned Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Fischer, zt”l, in his book “Even Yisrael” on the laws of Tu B’Shvat.

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11 Comments
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Ein am hooretz chosid
Ein am hooretz chosid
20 days ago

Learn Hilchos Taaruvos, then come back and tell me what is the halachic problem with juicing unscrubbed oranges.
Obviously, if you consume the actual peels, it’s a good idea to clean them well. Never saw insects on oranges in the US, but you never know what kinds of pesticides are there, in addition to the status of the wax.
Learn Beis Yosef before you try to invent new so called “chumros”.

The_Truth
Famed Member
The_Truth
20 days ago

How do the bugs get into the orange juice if they are on the surface of the peel?
Do they grind up the entire orange in industrial juices when they make the juice, or is it just from cutting the orange and sometimes that dislodges them from the peel? Is drinking “pulp-free” OJ any better than with pulp? Is this just an Israeli issue or worldwide?

Kashrus pro
Kashrus pro
20 days ago

Much ado about nothing made up by people who think they can out shteig another organization.

Kashrus Pro
Kashrus Pro
19 days ago

It turns out this is complete SHEKER!!!!

The Commish
The Commish
19 days ago

Go to your local store. See if they will let you look at a box of apples. On the side of the box it may say “Coated with Carmine”. Carmine is a wax made of crushed bugs. Ask your Ruv if you can just rinse an apple before you take a bite into it. Then show him the photo of the box where it says “Coated with Carmine”. You’ll get some interesting responses.