OK Kosher has released a new statement regarding the scandal surrounding Kosher Chinese Express in Manalapan, NJ, stating that the owner admitted that he sold treif in his store.
[It should be noted that the new statement confirms that non-kosher meat and chickens shown in the initial video that was leaked were not brought into the store at any point.]
Read the full statement:
OK Kosher has completed an extensive investigation into the events at Kosher Chinese Express in Manalapan, New Jersey. Kosher Chinese Express intentionally violated its obligation to the kosher consumer despite OK Kosher’s having assigned multiple mashgichim temidim to this restaurant.
These mashgichim temidim were the only people who had keys to the restaurant, refrigerators, and freezers.
A video of the owner buying non-kosher chicken and meat in bulk was shared with OK Kosher. The restaurant was immediately closed for investigation. It was determined that those products were not brought into the restaurant and they were permitted to reopen with additional kosher precautions.
A few days later, empty boxes from non-kosher chicken and meat (a different brand from the original video) were discovered by OK Kosher Rabbis in one of the communal dumpsters in the shopping plaza where the restaurant is located. The neighboring restaurants were questioned and it was confirmed that the boxes were not their property and they had not used the products which were originally in these packages. At this point the owner was notified that the restaurant would remain closed until further notice.
The owner was questioned by OK Kosher Rabbis about the boxes in the dumpster. The owner then decided to permanently close Kosher Chinese Express, essentially acknowledging wrongdoing.
Later, we obtained verbal admission from the owner that he brought in non-kosher chicken and meat in small amounts over an extended period of time. We did not find physical proof of this, but it seems that the products were somehow snuck in during operational hours.
Consumers can contact OK Kosher Certification at 718-756-7500.
The owner verbally admitted to bringing in the non-kosher items beginning with the nationwide chicken shortage in March 2022.
Rav Menachem M. Weissmandl was consulted throughout the investigation and he ruled that kashering is necessary if you reheated the food using your own equipment. Consult a rov about koshering questions.
the owner should be sued for fraudulently cheating the kosher-eating public. Possibly the NJ attorney general can also become involved. Costly lawsuits can be a deterrent to any other enterprise owner that is considering such
misleading practices.
keep giving hashgachas to Chinese nationals to them it is a joke with no repercussions or care
Give him a chance. Btw we don’t have a good Chinese restaurant in Chicago. Hint hint. The owner would qwelcome here in Chicago.
You can have 10 mashgichim on premises the Chinese owners don’t care , they are sneaky and ruthless
Sue under the NJ Consumer Fraud Act which provides attorney’s fees and treble damages. If you can manage to pierce the corporate veil and go after him personally, then you will be able to ruin him financially. That would definitely be a deterrent to other people tempted to do as he did.
Sue him bad
Who here would donate to a gofundme to raise money for a lawyer to sue a class action , hit the comments please
WE should be allowed to sue the pants off any hechsher for negligence.
That would solve this from EVER happening again.
Highly doubt the OK was the one that took the video….This is what Reb Yehuda Shain is famous for and credit should be given for his absolute mesiras nefesh for Kashrus! As I have written before, the hashgochos needs a mashgiach…..and that is Rabbi Shain!
Stop supporting goyim!!! Help acheinu Bnei yisroel first! Enough with these ridiculous excuses.
It’s impossible for mashgichim to prevent fraudsters from slipping treif into their foods. A mashgiach will hopefully prevent honest mistakes from being made with the food they’re supervising, but deliberate tarfus is all-but-impossible to prevent, even with precautions like a mashgiach temidi, cameras, locked and sealed freezers and the like.
What can be done to prevent this in the future? Should the frum community reconsider eating at non-Jewish-owned establishments?
Ummmm……Duuuuh…….
The callousness of the letter is appalling. Cold-blooded, business like letter. Let’s just put the facts out and move on. Where’s the PAIN? Maybe a word of how HORRIBLE you feel for being responsible for who knows how many Yidden eating Tarfus? Do you really CARE as little as this letter would make it sound?
It makes sense only to eat in a place if you would eat in the proprietor’s home. (Although this too isn’t fool proof as the monsey debacle showed) A mashgiach is only worthwhile if the owner isn’t out to cheat.
The nation wide chicken shortage started in the beginning of 2001, a full 18 months ago.
How did YOU ever give a hechsher to a goy???! Are you that naive and gullible? How can we trust your hechsherim?
Anyone who has ever dealt with the people who own these types of stores can tell you:
מילתא דעבידא לאיגלויי לא משקרי בה אינשי
Does NOT apply to them. “yes” and “no” means the same.
Thus, how can one give any Hecsher or trust any such eatery is beyond my understanding.
Small Restaurants Are Facing a Nationwide Chicken Shortage Another pandemic-related shortage has struck. By Caitlyn Hitt. Published on 5/10/2021
THE CHICKEN SHORTGAGE STARTED IN THE BEGINING OF 2021
let me make sure i understand: hashgacha means that there’s hardly any difference with a random treif restaurant?
Please stop beating me.