Some Lawmakers Quietly Pledge Revisiting Kosher Law Enforcement

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kosher-concessionsWith 2010 winding down to just a few days, there seems little chance that the remaining two inspectors of the Kosher Law Enforcement Bureau of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets will be spared come December 31st. According to several high-level sources reached by Kosher Today, come January 1st the bureau will be manned by only its director Rabbi Luzer Weiss. The inspectors were terminated as part of state budget cuts to close the gap on the state’s growing deficit. The sources said that there may have been other reasons, including the lack of any significant public protest, a cave-in by the state to a second lawsuit by the Commack butchers who knocked out (through their first lawsuit) the state’s 100-year old kosher food laws, a house-cleaning of appointees of former Governor George Pataki (a Republican), and a “non-appreciation” of the role of the inspectors.But Kosher Today has learned that the role of the state in enforcing its current kosher laws will most likely be revisited in the new administration of Governor-Elect Andrew Cuomo. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a key advocate of the kosher food laws, was one of those who said he would take a close look at the state’s enforcement of the laws in the future. Several other legislators echoed the Speaker’s sentiments. Kosher food sources fear that the state’s elimination of 11 inspectors in a relatively short period of time will severely impact their deterrent effect on kosher establishments. One leading rabbi who has been a strong advocate of saving the jobs of the remaining two inspectors, said: “I fear that the removal of the inspectors will mean that retailers and other kosher establishments will become lax in how they present kosher to the public and that would be an absolute disaster.”

{Kosher Today/Matzav.com}


4 COMMENTS

  1. The absence of a governmental Kosher Law Enforcement office lietrally gives free reign to every faker and charlatan. Especially with the Chinese ability to market their gluttony of food items that will have every kosher certification falsely used on their products. Who will be here to stop them?

  2. If there is, in fact, no Kosher Law enforcement, can the individual establishment be sued for false advertising or misrepresentation? Does there have to be tangible damage done? I’m not a lawyer, I’m curious.

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