Faqs

Q. [We drink milk which is not chalav Yisroel.] Why do you say that we can buy milk without certification (if certified is not available) assuming it is just plain milk with no additives (other than the vitamins)? Why is that different than juice, which requires hashgacha because it might have been pasteurized on equipment used for non-kosher?


A. There are other items processed on milk pasteurizers which are non-kosher, and for exactly that reason there are some who recommend that milk only be bought with hashgacha. Nonetheless, where needed, we permit milk without hashgacha because so much milk is pasteurized at one time that any non-kosher taste absorbed into the pasteurizer are surely batel b'shishim (nullified) in the finished milk. This is a reasonable position regarding milk, since milk is bottled cold which means that the (hot) pasteurization of lots of milk is done at once, and then the bottling is done later

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In contrast, most fruit juices are bottled hot such that (a) there is more equipment involved, and there are, therefore, more b'lios which must be batel and (b) the complications of bottling make it likely that the process will have to stop more frequently, and this negatively affects the bitul calculations. Therefore, we recommend to consumers that they only purchase fruit juice which bears a reputable kosher certification but permit plain milk even if it is not certified.