An estimated 300 new items are expected to be introduced for Pesach, according to an early survey by KosherToday. Sources in the kosher food industry say that new product introductions have driven profits in the past 5-7 years and this year will be no exception.
But some of the new products are not without controversy. Some rabbis are concerned that newly developed products for Pesach look too much like year-round products and may potentially confuse customers as well as store personnel. Rabbonim in Israel have required factories like Osem to use bags or different canisters for their Pesach croutons. Other rabbonim in the US have said to avoid eating foods that “look, smell and sometimes taste” like chometz.
Brooklyn-based US Chocolate is the largest manufacturer and supplier of Pesach baking ingredients. They produce a Pesach Dough Base which can be made into fresh pizza. Their free flowing base can produce delicious Pesach pizza, rolls, knishes, and many more items that closely mimic the year-round baked with just adding water, oil, and an egg (all a shehakol, non gebrokts and non kitniyos). It is but one example of foods that are being made to taste like the year-round foods but yet are made with ingredients that make them fit for Pesach.
In years past such foods include bread crumbs and cereals, not to speak of bagels and pizza. While an increasing number of products are made to look and taste like the year-round versions, some rabbonim remain concerned about the possible confusion.
{Kosher Today/Matzav.com Newscenter}
Kol hacovod! Its important to have a good distinction between items that are chametz. It is so hard to know what is good for pesach and what is not. This is an especially big problem for those of us who live out of town. FYI There is also a great list of Kosher for Pesach items on Kashrut.org. It is a lifesaver every year.
someone would have to be mighty stupid to be confused by these products!
Where does it say to avoid foods that are kosher for Pesach and are properly labeled as such, but somehow resemble chametz? Do objectors to these also object to Pesach sponge cakes and honey cakes that have been around for years? They can personally avoid any Pesach-certified food based on their own esthetic preferences but should not impose on others.
The Peasach stuff either tastes much better or no-where close to chometz stuff.
So there is nothing to worry.
Packaging is another story. Companies got to be idiotic to package peasach stuff in all-year packaging when they charge double for the passover stuff.
Chometzdik Matzah should have far more than the small letters that indicate that it is not for Passover. Look at a Cigarette box and its warring!
And all of this is a problem because…?
this is beautiful! it shows tat we truly deserve schar for not eating chometz on pesach,since we really miss pizza.It’s no big deal to not eat pizza on pesach if you don’t eat it all year round since its too much gashmiyus .The Berditchiver would be proud
Would that also include Coca Cola with OU?
OK no passover pizza, but where do they drw the line?
About 8 years ago I found coating crumbs that were complete CHAMETZ in a special Pesach store a few days before Pesach. I was rushing, but insisted the (non-Jewish) help find me a manager. They finally produced someone whose clothing certainly looked very religious. He promised me that- Yes, Yes they would take care of it. He did not seem half as horrified as me that the product was Chametz. I came home and took the time to phone one of the largest Jewish newspapers distributed in the NY area. They suggested I send in a letter. I did. I never saw the letter published in the paper, perhaps because while I did not name the store I clearly described the location.
Please be careful when shopping for Pesach products for your meticulously cleaned kitchen!
. The minhag of not eating rice and kitniyot was instituted to avoid confusing with chametz products. Now, we still can’t eat rice, or beans, none of which would be confused with bread or cake — yet we have a plethora bread and cake lookalikes made from potato starch and (for the gebrokts eaters) matzah meal. It is all backward!
Last year we had a story in Toronto where mushrooms that were packaged by a heimishe company and hashgacha that were not Kosher for Pesach got into a frum store mixed with the Pesach products. When the individual who purchased the mushrooms realized the error he contacted the COR who contacted this heimishe company who advised him that one of the products in the mushrooms could be “taaruves chametz”. Today with the complications and amount of ingredients in industrial products one never knows. I know for a fact that this was not the only story in Toronto last year. Extremely important takana!!
I think it’s time to make life easier not more difficult.
Did you hear? Someone in Nebraska sneezed, so the prices of hand Matzoh’s will be going up this year!
The plethora of products out there that are gluten free and kitniyos free were definitely made with the gluten intolerant consumer in mind, and they shop a whole year. As a result, the packaging has to be attractive and appealing and certainly should not broadcast Pesach all over it. For the special consumer, these foods ara a boon. For a Pesach consumer,caveat emptor. The special segula of being elevated on Pesach by rarifying our eating experience is a tikkun for a whole year.
Not much to worry about here. Sadly we can all easily tell which are the Pesach products. If only the products were truly indistinguishable one from another and we had a real issue on our hands now. Back to my soup mandaalin, coconut balls and various sized forms of ground potatoes nuts and eggs.
The only thing that is confusing is the non kosher lepesach matzo. Everything else looks pesachdig.
The bigger problem is when people like my father accidentally buy pesach food during the rest of the year.