Pesach Faqs

Q. What can you tell me about the ink used to mark meat?

A. The government and Shochtim mark meat with special edible inks. The USDA regulates the exact ingredients allowed in the ink, and several them are possibly chametz, but - in the United States - the sensitive ingredients are most likely kitnios. The sensitive items include dextrose and (denatured) ethyl alcohol. As no one has been able to obtain approved inks which are certified as being kosher for Pesach, many Rabbonim recommend that people should cut the "ink mark" off of the meat which they cook on Pesach. [It cannot easily be washed off]. It is likely that the letter of the law is that the ink does not have to be removed (since the kitnios is presumably batel b'rov in the ink, the sensitive ingredients are batel in the meat, and the alcohol is denatured and also likely evaporates when the meat is stamped), but nonetheless it is an appropriate practice to remove the ink-mark before cooking the meat.