By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times
It happens occasionally that something that normally just requires spot checking becomes heavily infested. In the past two weeks, as a number of the more rigorously trained mashgichim have reported, basil leafs from Florida have become extraordinarily more infested with something called “leaf miners.”
Basil is an herb that is most commonly used fresh in cooked recipes. When it is dried – it taste very very different. It is one of the main ingredients in pesto – that green Italian oil and herb sauce. In general, it is added at the last moment, because cooking quickly destroys the flavor.
Essentially, small worms tunnel inside the leaf and often leaves a wiggly trail on the leaf. The leaf-miner’s other name is Liriomyza sativae Blanchard. It is found commonly in the southern United States from Florida to California and also Hawaii. It is also found in most of Central and South America. It cannot survive cold areas except in greenhouses.
Vegetable leafminer attacks a large number of plants, but seems to favor those in the plant families Cucurbitaceae, Leguminosae, and Solanaceae.
The infestation is appearing in basil leafs for sale across the country. One mashgiach reported, “We are getting calls from California through New York.”
One Mashgiach remarked, “Even the highly regarded Pontano brand contains the leaf-miners. Either one must really know how to check them or one should only buy the pre-checked from a reliable place.”
How long will the infestation last? No one really knows.
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3 Responses
Leaf miners trails are very easy to see, all you need to do is know that it is a trail
BTW, I was eating a few dates last night and the third one had a big insect inside, it was easy to see. So with TU B’shvat coming everyone should at least make a basic attempt to check before eating.
Most Chassideshe mashgichim have the “rigorous training” that Rav Hoffman references to identify these tiny insects and assure that any produce passing their inspection is “leaf-miner free”. Your always safe with a good chassideshe hashgacha.EDITOR: Actually, Rabbi Hoffman is referring only to those mashgichim that were trained by Rabbi Goldstein from Boro Park or someone similar. Most Mashgichim ARE NOT TRAINED RIGOROUSLY.