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10 Cheshvan 5763 - October 16, 2002 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Shearis to Check Each Tuna from Thailand
by A. Cohen

Willy Food imported a large batch of tuna bearing its mehudar hechsher after a factory was found in Thailand where onsite Shearis Yisroel mashgichim can inspect each individual fish, as specified by Maran HaRav Shach zt'l.

Since many bnei Torah prefer foods bearing the Shearis hechsher, when these cans reached store shelves last week many consumers medakdekim bemitzvos were finally able to buy canned tuna once again after it was unavailable for several years.

During a visit to the home of HaRav Shach zt'l several years ago, members of Badatz Shearis Yisroel raised concerns over tuna products since sometimes non-kosher fish are found mixed in with the tuna that is caught in the ocean. Because each fish is a separate and distinct entity, the halocho kol deporish meruboh porish does not apply. Although many rabbonim maintain there is room to rule more leniently and thus permit tuna inspected according to standard production procedures, since its founding Shearis has adhered to HaRav Shach's ruling that a hechsher for bnei Torah must insist on a strict policy for fish and everything else.

Then Av Beis Din of Shearis Yisroel, the late HaRav Chaim Shaul Karelitz, said that a hechsher should not be granted on tuna unless the fish can be inspected one by one. Following concerted efforts and a complex logistical campaign in cooperation with Mr. Yossi Williger, owner of Willy Food-- one of Israel's leading food importers--Shearis Yisroel was eventually able to give its stamp of approval for the company's canned tuna products.

One year ago the search began for a tuna factory that would meet the special requirements of Shearis Yisroel. With considerable assistance from Mr. Williger a large packinghouse was located in a Bangkok suburb where the production process is conducted on a manual production line, allowing the fish to be inspected individually without concerns of bishul akum.

Throughout the year the factory has a kosher production line except for one week when the entire batch is kosher lemehadrin. Meetings and negotiations were held with the factory owner and representatives for over a year before an agreement was hammered out.

Shearis Yisroel's kashrus supervisor, Rabbi Avrohom Schlesinger, arrived in Thailand several days before the special production commenced, to ensure the factory was completely shut down 24 hours before the hachshoro process began and to familiarize himself with the productions line from start to finish. The hachshoro process involved emptying the steam vats and koshering over 560 carts, 12 ovens (capable of cooking thousands of fish at once) and all of the various production utensils.

Rav Schlesinger was accompanied by two mashgichim, at times working in alternating shifts to ensure a constant presence at the factory around the clock. Throughout the 96- hour production for Shearis the entire factory, with thousands of workers on the complex production line, heeded the instructions given by the Shearis supervisory team. The fish were inspected one by one during the initial phase of production before being loaded onto carts and conveyed into the ovens. Whenever the mashgiach had to leave his post to turn on the oven, the fish were inspected in the carts.

The type of tuna used in the factory, skipjack tuna, is particularly easy to identify due to the light blue and white stripes on its underside, and the scales can be checked by hand although the tuna is known to shed its scales.

Shearis Yisroel heads expressed great satisfaction over the new product, which joins a wide variety of other Shearis products intended to meet the large demand generated by the bnei Torah public.

 

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