Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Not kosher?
Photo: Nick Carmen
Rabbinate's new enemy: Häagen-Dazs
Senior Chief Rabbinate officials claim ice cream based on unsupervised liquid milk, therefore not kosher. Company marketing Häagen-Dazs in Israel: Product adheres to strict OU kashrut supervision
Senior Chief Rabbinate officials have sent a letter to local rabbis, claiming that Häagen-Dazs ice cream is not kosher and therefore must not be marketed in Israel.
Following an inquiry by Ynet's local portal Mynet, the Shufersal supermarket chain announced that it would pull the ice cream from its shelves.
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"The ice cream, which is sold in other stores as well, is based on pagan liquid milk (milk produced without Jewish supervision)," the letter explained, "and so it is sold in serious violations of kashrut procedures."
The letter added, "We will also the permit providers not to allow the sale of this product in supervised places. As long as the chain's management insists on selling them, the kashrut certificate may be revoked by law."
Rafi Yochai of the Rabbinate's kashrut division told Mynet that the two leading supermarket chains were violating procedures.
"Their stores have a kosher certificate, so every person observing kashrut is inclined to believe that all of the products sold in the store are kosher, when in fact that is not true because of the ice cream.
"We have already warned them three times on this matter, and this is the last time. As of the next time, we will start collecting fines of NIS 2,000 ($521) for each ice cream caught in their stores."
General Mills Israel, which markets Häagen-Dazs ice cream in the Jewish state, said in response that "the ice cream adheres to the strict and global OU kashrut supervision and is consumed by the religious and secular public in Israel and abroad.
"The Chief Rabbinate's announcement is nothing new. The super-premium ice cream is produced with liquid milk, which allows exceptional quality in product's texture and final taste."
